JPMorgan expects Ethereum and the broader altcoin market to remain relatively weak against Bitcoin for the time being, pointing to a market structure that is becoming increasingly centered on BTC.

The Block reported on May 14 that JPMorgan said in a recent note that the trend of altcoins underperforming BTC since 2023 will be difficult to reverse without meaningful improvement in decentralized finance, or DeFi, and real-world assets, or RWA.

The bank said Bitcoin has shown greater resilience than Ethereum in several areas, including spot exchange-traded funds and institutional futures positioning.

JPMorgan also said Ethereum, despite an upcoming upgrade, has failed to boost network activity over the past three years.

It said that weakness has, in particular, undermined the existing token-burn mechanism.

The broader altcoin market is also struggling to rebuild investor confidence because of weaker liquidity conditions and shallow market depth, according to the bank.

Institutional money has recently continued to flow mainly into Bitcoin, extending the relative weakness in altcoins.

Investors are watching whether Ethereum’s upgrade delivers an effect and whether the DeFi and RWA markets expand, as those are seen as key variables for the direction of altcoins.