Crowd sentiment toward Ethereum (ETH) turned negative as October opened, with bearish comments outnumbering bullish ones across major social platforms for the first time since early June, according to analytics firm Santiment.

The ratio of bullish to bearish commentary surrounding ETH fell to 0.89 in data published on Oct. 2, 2026, its lowest level since June 7. A reading below 1.0 indicates that negative comments outweigh positive ones among social media users discussing the asset. Until this reading, bullish commentary had consistently outweighed bearish commentary since early June.

Santiment calculates the metric by tracking bullish and bearish commentary across major social platforms, including X, Telegram, and Reddit. The firm's social sentiment data is widely referenced within the cryptocurrency industry as a measure of crowd mood surrounding digital assets. Because the metric captures the tone of public commentary rather than trading volume or network activity, analysts generally treat it as one input among several when gauging market conditions, rather than a standalone signal.

Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Its native token, ETH, is used to pay transaction fees and run smart contracts on the Ethereum network, a blockchain that supports decentralized applications. That scale means shifts in ETH's social reading tend to draw attention from market watchers tracking the mood of the broader crypto crowd.

For those following the metric, the immediate datapoint will be whether the ratio climbs back above 1.0 in subsequent readings or holds below that line, which would extend the first bearish-leaning stretch in ETH commentary since early June.

This content was first published on COINOTAG.