ETH vs SPY: Performance Comparison

Last updated: December 29, 2025

Gale Research Team
Written by Gale Research Team Financial Data Analysis
Sid Kalla
Reviewed by Sid Kalla CFA Charterholder

Analysis period: 2024-12-30 to 2025-12-27

ETH Total Return
-13.5%
SPY Total Return
+18.7%

Relative Performance (Normalized to 100)

ETH SPY

Normalized to 100 at start date for comparison

Key Takeaways

  • Raw returns: SPY outperformed with 18.7% total return vs -13.5% for ETH.
  • Risk-adjusted (Sharpe): SPY had better risk-adjusted returns with a Sharpe ratio of 0.77 vs 0.12 for ETH.
  • Volatility: SPY was less volatile at 19.5% annualized vs 75.7% for ETH.
  • Max drawdown: SPY had a shallower max drawdown of -18.8% vs -60.1% for ETH.

Correlation Analysis

0.08 Average Correlation

ETH and SPY are weakly correlated over the past 6 months. With a correlation of 0.08, these assets show some independence, offering moderate diversification when held together.

Metric Metric Value
Current (30-day) 0.26
Average (full period) 0.08
Minimum -0.24
Maximum 0.41

Correlation measures how closely two assets move together. Values near +1 indicate strong co-movement, near 0 indicates independence, and negative values indicate inverse movement.

Investment Comparison

If you invested $10,000 in each asset on December 30, 2024:

ETH $8,650.48 -13.5%
SPY $11,872.98 +18.7%

Difference: $3,222.5 (SPY ahead)

Risk Analysis

ETH experienced its maximum drawdown of -60.1% from 2025-01-07 to 2025-04-09. It took 103 days to recover.

SPY experienced its maximum drawdown of -18.8% from 2025-02-19 to 2025-04-08. It took 79 days to recover.

Smaller drawdowns and faster recoveries indicate lower downside risk and greater resilience during market stress.

Sharpe Ratio

ETH Sharpe Ratio
0.12
SPY Sharpe Ratio
0.77

The Sharpe ratio measures return per unit of risk (volatility). A higher Sharpe indicates better risk-adjusted performance. SPY delivered 6.4x more return per unit of risk than ETH.

A Sharpe above 1.0 is generally considered good, above 2.0 is excellent. Negative Sharpe means the asset underperformed the risk-free rate.

Sortino Ratio

ETH Sortino Ratio
0.19
SPY Sortino Ratio
0.98

The Sortino ratio measures return per unit of downside risk. Unlike Sharpe, it only penalizes negative volatility. SPY had better downside-adjusted returns.

A higher Sortino is better. It's particularly useful for assets with asymmetric volatility (big gains, smaller losses). Downside volatility: ETH 49.2% vs SPY 15.3%.

Understanding Volatility

ETH's annualized volatility of 75.7% means it typically moves ±3.96% on any given day.

SPY's annualized volatility of 19.5% means it typically moves ±1.23% on any given day.

For comparison, the S&P 500 typically has 15-18% annualized volatility, translating to roughly ±1% daily moves. Higher volatility means larger potential gains but also larger potential losses.

Performance Over Time

Metric ETH SPY
30 Days -1.7% 1.9%
90 Days -28.1% 4.6%
180 Days 19.2% 12.9%
1 Year N/A N/A

Shorter time frames can show different leaders as market conditions change. Consider your investment horizon when comparing performance.

Full Comparison

Metric ETH SPY
Total Return -13.5% 18.7%
Annualized Volatility 75.7% 19.5%
Sharpe Ratio 0.12 0.77
Sortino Ratio 0.19 0.98
Max Drawdown -60.1% -18.8%
Avg Correlation to S&P 500 0.02 1.00