Standard Chartered Sees Ethereum At $40,000 By 2030, Cuts 2026 Target
Standard Chartered has set a brand new long-range goal of $40,000 for Ethereum (ETH) by end-2030, whereas reducing its end-2026 forecast sharply, arguing that Ethereum’s relative setup is bettering whilst Bitcoin-led weak point has weighed on absolute crypto worth targets.
In a analysis observe, the financial institution’s digital property analyst Geoff Kendrick framed 2026 as a possible inflection level for Ethereum versus bitcoin, regardless of revising down its medium-term ETH-USD path. “We assume ETH’s prospects have improved. We due to this fact anticipate the cross to step by step return to its 2021 highs,” Kendrick wrote, pointing to a rebound within the ETH/BTC relationship because the core expression of his thesis.
Standard Chartered Recasts Ethereum Outlook
Standard Chartered now expects ether to finish 2026 at $7,500, down from its prior $12,000 estimate, earlier than rising to $15,000 in 2027 (minimize from $18,000) and $22,000 in 2028 (minimize from $25,000), with $30,000 penciled in for 2029 (raised from $25,000) and $40,000 by end-2030.
“I feel 2026 would be the 12 months of Ethereum, very similar to 2021 was,” Kendrick writes. The financial institution attributes the near-term markdown to Bitcoin’s drag on dollar-denominated crypto efficiency, with Kendrick noting that weaker BTC motion has “weighed on the outlook for digital property priced in {dollars},” forcing decrease absolute targets by means of 2028 whilst Ethereum’s relative fundamentals strengthen.
Kendrick highlighted a set of Ethereum-specific helps that, in his view, usually tend to present up in relative efficiency than in speedy spot-price upside. He pointed to continued accumulation by Bitmine Immersion Technologies, which the observe described as the most important Ethereum-focused digital asset treasury firm, at a time when ETF inflows have “quickly stalled” and broader company treasury shopping for has cooled.
He additionally cited Ethereum’s centrality to stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, and DeFi as structural demand drivers, and emphasised execution on plans to extend Ethereum layer-1 throughput by roughly 10x over the subsequent two to a few years. “Analysis exhibits that larger throughput interprets into larger market cap,” Kendrick wrote.
Regulation was flagged as an extra potential tailwind. Kendrick pointed to the US CLARITY Act as a improvement that could possibly be supportive for the sector and “significantly ETH” if it helps unlock one other section of DeFi exercise. The US Senate is because of assessment the invoice on Jan. 15 with doable passage in Q1.
For merchants, the framework implies that Standard Chartered’s highest-conviction expression is much less about pinning an actual ETH-USD degree within the subsequent 12 months and extra about whether or not Ethereum can reclaim relative floor versus bitcoin as throughput, stablecoin-heavy exercise, and coverage readability compound into 2026 and past.
At press time, ETH traded at $3,126.