Banking giant JPMorgan recently poured cold water on Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, claiming that there is no "bullish impulse" in its futures products. 

JPMorgan has noted that major institutional players tend to treat Bitcoin and gold as similar assets.  

The performance of the aforementioned assets is driven by the so-called "debasement trade". Investors place their bets on gold and its digital rival due to persistent concerns about growing government deficits and the gradual erosion of trust in fiat currency systems. The lustrous metal and Bitcoin are also seen as means of diversification. 

However, Ethereum is not part of this "debasement trade," which is why it is currently underperforming. 

Back in May, the Ether price experienced a significant rally following the approval of multiple exchange-traded products. 

However, the rally was just a flash in the pan, and Ether ETF ended up flopping with outflows on the second day of their trading.

As reported by U.Today, Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock's head of digital assets, recently explained that Ethereum's narrative was not strong enough compared to Bitcoin when addressing the relative underperformance of iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA). He stated that the financial giant was focused on educating investors about the leading cryptocurrency.

In August, JPMorgan noted that the outflows logged by Ethereum ETFs ended up being substantially higher than initially anticipated. 

Last month, the ETH/BTC pair dropped to the lowest level since early 2021.