Ethereum and XRP Sentiment Sink to Multi-Month Lows in October

According to Santiment, sentiment among the crowd for Ethereum (ETH) and XRP (XRP) has soured at the start of October. On major social platforms, bearish remarks about both altcoins now exceed bullish ones.

This negative mood arrives in a month traders call Uptober. Prices have seen little change: ETH at $2,715.50 and XRP at $1.51, each posting small gains for the day.

Bearish Chatter on Ethereum and XRP Overwhelms the Bulls

Santiment monitored the ratio of bullish to bearish posts on X, Telegram, Reddit and other sites. A value under 1.0 indicates that negative posts are in the majority.

The ratio for ETH declined to 0.89, the lowest since June 7. XRP's ratio slid to 0.67, its weakest since August 17.

In contrast, Bitcoin (BTC) sentiment stands at 1.37 on the scale, indicating the bearishness is concentrated on the two altcoins. Alternative.me's Crypto Fear & Greed Index registers 72, in Greed territory, up from 63 a month earlier. Santiment views the decline as a potential contrarian indicator.

“Heavy pessimism can create a useful contrarian setup. When traders become convinced prices are heading lower, much of the panic selling may already have happened,” it said.

Santiment also noted that these low readings do not assure an immediate rebound for either token.

Fund Flows and Network Data Send Mixed Signals

Social sentiment is just one indicator; on-chain and fund metrics present a more mixed outlook for both tokens. According to analyst CryptoOnchain, activity on the Ethereum network has increased.

Average base fees surged 193% week over week. The staking rate rose from 35.53% to 35.92% over 14 days.

However, the Coinbase Premium Index has been negative for 14 consecutive sessions. CryptoOnchain interpreted this as an indication that US institutional buyers are not behind the price move.

US spot ETF data aligns with that assessment. According to SoSoValue, Ethereum ETFs recorded net outflows for three consecutive days through October 1, amounting to roughly $117.8 million.

That outflow streak came after seven consecutive inflow sessions totaling about $850.7 million.

XRP funds have fared better. Spot XRP ETFs have seen no outflows since September 18 and took in $4.07 million on October 1. However, zero net flows were recorded in two of the last four sessions.

XRP begins October following a record quarter. For the first time, July, August and September each ended in positive territory, raising XRP by more than 43%.

Seasonality does not provide much support for continuing that trend, a point made by BeInCrypto's October outlook. CryptoRank data indicates that XRP ended October lower in 8 out of 13 years, including 2024 and 2025.

As for ETH, CryptoOnchain pointed to a positive Coinbase premium as the strongest signal that US buyers are coming back. Key catalysts for XRP appear later in the month. Ripple's Swell conference and the Federal Reserve's October 27-28 meeting both take place in the final week of October.