ETH vs BTC: key numbers
Ethereum as a percentage of Bitcoin. 100% means Ethereum has caught up. Data as of .
| Metric | Now | 1 year ago | Peak | Data since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market cap | 17.0% | 20.3% | 83.2% Jun 12, 2017 | Jan 2017 |
| Active addresses (7-day avg) | 137.0% | 98.8% | 182.8% Jan 29, 2026 | Jan 2017 |
| Transactions (7-day avg) | 406.8% | 350.6% | 712.8% Jan 19, 2026 | Jan 2017 |
What is the flippening?
The flippening is the moment Ethereum (ETH) passes Bitcoin (BTC) in market capitalization and becomes the largest cryptocurrency. This page measures it as Ethereum's market cap divided by Bitcoin's, so the flippening happens when the number at the top reaches 100%.
Bitcoin has been the largest cryptocurrency since it launched in 2009. Ethereum followed in July 2015 as a platform for general-purpose smart contracts, the programs behind decentralized finance (DeFi), and has ranked second for most of the time since. That spot has been contested. XRP passed Ethereum several times in late 2017 and 2018. In June 2026 Tether (USDT) reached 99.1% of Ethereum's market cap at the daily close, and press reports had it briefly ahead intraday on June 6 and June 26.
Ethereum's closest calls
Ethereum came closest on June 12, 2017, during the token-sale boom, when its market cap reached 83.2% of Bitcoin's. It had been 4.4% on January 1 that year. The next highs were 54.8% on December 8, 2021, during the DeFi and NFT boom, and 53.4% on September 7, 2022. That second peak came a week before the Merge moved Ethereum to proof of stake. On April 21, 2025, the ratio fell to 11.0%, its lowest since January 2020.
What would it take for Ethereum to flip Bitcoin?
Ethereum would have to outgrow Bitcoin. A rally that lifts both coins equally leaves the ratio where it was.
ETH doesn't need to match Bitcoin's price. There are about six ether in circulation for every bitcoin, so at equal market caps one ETH would be worth roughly a sixth of a BTC. Supply on both sides changes slowly, so the ETH/BTC price chart tracks the same race. The FAQ below gives today's multiple and the ETH price it implies.
For scale, the biggest run in this data came in the first half of 2017, when the ratio rose about 19-fold in five months and still stopped short of 100%.
Where Ethereum already leads Bitcoin
Ethereum overtook Bitcoin on daily transactions in June 2017. Active addresses took eight more years. Ethereum first passed Bitcoin on that count on July 29, 2025, and fell back below it five times before the end of that year.
Both usage charts count base-layer activity only, so Ethereum layer 2s such as Base and Arbitrum and Bitcoin's Lightning Network are left out. One person can control many addresses, and bots add to both counts, so read the address chart as a measure of network activity.
Other flippenings
Ethereum is the one being chased on the Solana vs Ethereum tracker, which also compares fees and DEX trading volume. Every race this site follows, from stablecoins to Bitcoin vs gold, is on the flippenings page.
ETH vs BTC flip history
Ethereum has never closed above Bitcoin in this data, which begins in Jan 2017.
Frequently asked questions
Has Ethereum flipped Bitcoin?
No. As of November 13, 2026, Ethereum's market cap is 17.0% of Bitcoin's, so ETH would need to grow 5.9× relative to BTC to flip it. The closest it has come in this data was 83.2% on June 12, 2017.
What is the ETH/BTC market cap ratio today?
Ethereum's market cap is 17.0% of Bitcoin's as of November 13, 2026. A year earlier, on November 13, 2025, it was 20.3%. Over the past 12 months it ranged from 15.5% to 21.9%.
How close has Ethereum come to flipping Bitcoin?
The highest reading in this data is 83.2%, on June 12, 2017. Ethereum has never closed above Bitcoin in this data, which begins in Jan 2017.
How much would ETH need to rise to flip BTC?
If Bitcoin's market cap stayed where it is, Ethereum's market cap would need to grow 5.9× (about +488%) to reach parity. What matters is ETH outgrowing BTC by that much, not its dollar price on its own. At today's Bitcoin market cap, that is roughly $11,900 per ETH (it closed at $2,020 on Nov 12, 2026), assuming ETH's supply stays the same.
Has Ethereum overtaken Bitcoin on any other metric?
Yes, on active addresses and transactions. Ethereum's daily active-address count has been above Bitcoin's every day since December 15, 2025 (now 137.0% of Bitcoin's, 7-day average). Ethereum's daily transaction count has been above Bitcoin's every day since June 20, 2017 (now 406.8% of Bitcoin's, 7-day average).
Where does this data come from?
Market caps come from CoinGecko. Active addresses and transactions come from Coin Metrics Community data (AdrActCnt and TxCnt) and are shown as 7-day averages. Each chart plots Ethereum as a percentage of Bitcoin, so 100% is parity. The data refreshes daily shortly after 00:00 UTC; the raw series are market-cap.json, active-addresses.json, transaction-count.json.