Standard Chartered says ‘2026 will be the year of Ethereum’ as bank backs ETH outperformance
Standard Chartered predicts 2026 will be Ethereum's breakout year, expecting it to significantly outperform Bitcoin due to structural advantages.Summary
Standard Chartered's Global Head of Digital Assets Research, Geoffrey Kendrick, projects that 2026 will be the 'year of Ethereum,' similar to 2021, driven by increasing blockchain and on-chain product adoption.
Despite lowering near-term absolute price targets for ETH (now $7,500 for end-2026, down from $12,000), the bank has turned more constructive on Ethereum relative to Bitcoin. Standard Chartered anticipates the ETH-BTC ratio will return toward 2021 highs of 0.08, citing Ethereum's dominance in stablecoins, real-world assets (RWAs), and DeFi, alongside scaling efforts.
The bank maintains a bullish long-term outlook, raising its 2029 target to $30,000 and setting a new $40,000 target for 2030. They forecast stablecoins and tokenized RWAs to reach $2 trillion by 2028, settling mostly on Ethereum. Furthermore, planned Layer 1 throughput increases, like those from the Fusaka upgrade, are seen as critical for supporting higher market capitalization.
(Source：The Block)