Ethereum News Today: Institutional Money Favors Solana Over Ethereum Amid Market Turbulence

Ethereum's spot ETFs recorded $15.97 million in inflows during the week ending October 31, 2025, led by Grayscale's Ethereum Mini Trust ETF, which attracted $56.05 million in net inflows according to a Coinfomania report. This marks a rebound in institutional interest after a period of market volatility, with Grayscale now managing over $1.54 billion in Ethereum ETF assets since its launch. Meanwhile, Solana's ETFs surged past Ethereum, drawing $89.9 million in inflows last week, per a Coinotag analysis, and a separate Coinotag piece put that figure at $197 million in a three-day period. This outperformance highlights a strategic shift by institutional investors toward high-performance blockchains amid broader crypto market turbulence.

The surge in Solana ETFs contrasts sharply with Bitcoin and Ethereum outflows. Bitcoin ETFs faced $543.59 million in redemptions, while Ethereum ETFs lost $210.43 million, driven largely by BlackRock's offloading of 31,754 ETH, as Coinotag reported. Solana's appeal appears rooted in its technical advantages: the network processes 65,000 transactions per second, enabling scalable decentralized applications, and its TVL of $10.59 billion remains resilient despite a 3% 24-hour dip, Coinotag added. Analyst Lark Davis noted that Solana "is winning" over Ethereum in speed, activity, and growth, despite Ethereum's ongoing upgrades, in a CoinEdition article.

Institutional confidence in Solana is further bolstered by infrastructure improvements. Alchemy's overhaul of Solana's RPC systems has addressed historical data access issues, enabling faster query execution for getTransaction and getProgramAccounts, according to a CryptoNews report. This upgrade positions Solana to handle increased institutional traffic as ETF adoption accelerates, with Western Union planning a Solana-based stablecoin launch in 2026. Technical indicators, however, remain mixed. Solana's price hovers near $159, with bearish EMA lines and a CMF below zero, Coinotag noted. Yet ETF inflows suggest long-term accumulation, particularly as retail demand resurfaces. CoinGlass data shows a 2.73% rise in SOL futures open interest to $7.64 billion, alongside $7.19 million in short liquidations, per an FXStreet report. Ethereum's price, at $3,857, broke a downward trendline, signaling potential for a bullish recovery, as the Coinfomania piece observed.

The divergent trajectories underscore a broader market reallocation. While Ethereum's Layer 2 ecosystem maintains its lead in total value locked, Solana's single-chain efficiency attracts developers and investors seeking lower fees and faster execution, as CoinEdition argued. Grayscale's dominance in Ethereum ETFs, combined with Solana's institutional inflows, suggests a maturing crypto market where investors balance risk across high-growth altcoins and established leaders.