Crowd sentiment toward Ethereum (ETH) and XRP (XRP) has turned negative as October begins, according to Santiment. Bearish comments now outnumber bullish ones for both altcoins across major social platforms.
The souring mood greets a month that traders often nickname Uptober. Prices have barely moved, with ETH at $2,715.50 and XRP at $1.51, both slightly up on the day.
Ethereum and XRP Bearish Chatter Drowns Out the Bulls
Santiment tracked the ratio of bullish to bearish commentary across X, Telegram, Reddit and other platforms. A reading below 1.0 means negative posts make up the majority.
ETH’s ratio fell to 0.89, its lowest reading since June 7. XRP dropped further, to 0.67, its weakest level since August 17.
Bitcoin (BTC) sentiment, by contrast, sits at 1.37 on the chart, so the pessimism centers on the two altcoins. Alternative.me‘s broader Crypto Fear & Greed Index reads 72, in Greed territory, up from 63 a month ago. Santiment sees a possible contrarian signal in the drop.
“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 added that the low readings do not guarantee an immediate bounce for either token.
Fund Flows and Network Data Pull in Two Directions
Social chatter is only one gauge, and on-chain and fund data paint a more mixed picture for both tokens. On the Ethereum network, activity has picked up, according to analyst CryptoOnchain.
Mean base fees jumped 193% week over week. Meanwhile, the staking rate climbed from 35.53% to 35.92% in 14 days.
However, the Coinbase Premium Index has printed negative in each of the last 14 sessions. CryptoOnchain read that as a sign that US institutional buyers are not driving the move.
US spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) data matches that read. SoSoValue data shows Ethereum ETFs logged three straight days of net outflows through October 1, totaling about $117.8 million.
The streak followed 7 consecutive inflow sessions worth roughly $850.7 million.
XRP funds have held up better. Spot XRP ETFs have not recorded an outflow since September 18 and added $4.07 million on October 1. Still, two of the last four sessions saw zero net flows.
XRP enters October off a milestone quarter. July, August and September each closed positive for the first time, lifting XRP more than 43%.
Seasonality offers little support for extending that run, a point BeInCrypto’s October outlook also raised. CryptoRank data shows the token closed October lower in 8 of 13 years, including 2024 and 2025.
For ETH, CryptoOnchain named a positive Coinbase premium as the clearest sign that US buyers are returning. XRP’s key catalysts arrive later in the month. Ripple’s Swell conference and the Federal Reserve’s October 27 to 28 meeting both land in October’s final week.
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