Standard Chartered has set a new long-term target of $40,000 for Ethereum (ETH) by the end of 2030, while sharply cutting its forecast for the end of 2026, arguing that Ethereum’s relative setup is improving as Bitcoin-led weakness weighs on the crypto’s overall price target.
In a research note, the bank’s asset analyst Geoff Kendrick constructs 2026 as a potential destination for Ethereum against bitcoin, despite revising its medium-term ETH-USD path. “We think that the prospects of ETH have improved. Therefore we expect the cross to gradually return to its high of 2021,” Kendrick wrote, pointing to the repetition of the relationship of ETH / BTC as the main point of his thesis.
Standard Chartered Recasts Ethereum Outlook
Standard Chartered now expects ether to end 2026 at $7,500, down from its previous estimate of $12,000, before rising to $15,000 in 2027 (cut from $18,000) and $22,000 in 2028 (cut from $25,000), penciled in 200 from 30.9 $25,000) and $40,000 by the end of 2030.
Related Reading
“I think 2026 will be the year of Ethereum, just like 2021 was,” Kendrick wrote. The bank attributes the near-term decline to Bitcoin’s drag on the dollar’s crypto performance, with Kendrick noting that BTC’s weak action “balanced the outlook for dollar-denominated digital assets,” forcing an overall lower target for 2028 as Ethereum’s relative fundamentals strengthen.
Kendrick highlighted a set of Ethereum-specific supports that, in his opinion, are more likely to be reflected in relative performance than in price upside. He pointed to the continued accumulation of Bitmine Immersion Technologies, which the note described as a major digital currency company focused on Ethereum, at a time when ETF inflows have “temporarily stopped” and broad purchases of corporate assets have cooled.
Related Reading
He also pointed out the importance of Ethereum to stablecoins, real-world tokenized assets, and DeFi as drivers of structural needs, and emphasized the release of plans to expand Ethereum’s 1st layer by about 10x in the next two to three years. Kendrick wrote:
Regulation has been flagged as a possible alternative. Kendrick pointed to the US CLARITY Act as a development that could support the sector and “especially ETH” if it helps open another phase of DeFi activity. The US Senate must review the bill on Jan. 15 likely to pass through Q1.
For traders, the outline suggests that Standard Chartered is showing a lot of conviction less about pinning the exact rate of ETH-USD in the next 12 months and more about whether Ethereum can regain its place relative to bitcoin as a cash flow, stablecoin-heavy activity, and a policy to clarify the combination in 2026 and beyond.
At press time, ETH traded at $3,126.
The featured image was created with DALL.E, a chart from TradingView.com
