Standard Chartered says ‘2026 will be the year of Ethereum’ as bank backs ETH outperformance

Standard Chartered has struck a bullish tone on Ethereum’s outlook, with the bank’s Global Head of Digital Assets Research, Geoffrey Kendrick, saying he expects Ethereum to outperform crypto peers in 2026 even as the firm trims some near-term price forecasts amid broader weakness in crypto markets.

“I think 2026 will be the year of Ethereum, much like 2021 was,” Kendrick said in a note accompanying the bank’s latest digital assets report. He pointed to the growing adoption of blockchains and onchain products as factors that should allow ether to “outperform significantly.”

The call comes as Standard Chartered has turned more constructive on Ethereum versus Bitcoin, despite lowering its absolute ETH price targets for the next few years. It now sees ether ending 2026 at $7,500, down from a previous $12,000 estimate, followed by $15,000 in 2027 and $22,000 in 2028, both lower than earlier projections. In contrast, Standard Chartered has raised its longer-dated outlook, lifting its end-2029 forecast to $30,000 and introducing a new $40,000 target for end-2030.

ETH’s bull case

In the report, the bank said weaker-than-expected Bitcoin performance has dampened prospects for digital assets against the dollar, given the foremost cryptocurrency’s continued dominance of the sector. Relative to Bitcoin, however, Ethereum’s drivers have strengthened, Kendrick asserted.

Standard Chartered now expects the ETH-BTC ratio to gradually return toward its 2021 highs, around 0.08, as Ethereum benefits from structural advantages not shared by its peers. Those include its dominant position in stablecoins, real-world assets, and decentralized finance, as well as ongoing efforts to scale the network.

Kendrick’s team said flows into digital asset exchange-traded funds and corporate treasury vehicles have slowed across the board, but remain relatively more supportive for Ethereum than for Bitcoin. The report highlighted continued buying by BitMine Immersion, currently the largest Ethereum-focused digital asset treasury company, which now holds about 3.4% of ether in circulation and remains on track to reach its 5% target.

Standard Chartered also reiterated its bullish stance on stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets, forecasting both markets to reach $2 trillion by 2028, with the majority of activity expected to settle on Ethereum. According to the bank, more than half of all stablecoins and tokenized RWAs already sit on Ethereum, a share it expects to grow as traditional financial activity moves onchain.

Network fundamentals were another pillar of the thesis. Ethereum’s transaction count has reached fresh all-time highs in recent weeks, driven largely by stablecoin activity, which now accounts for roughly 35% to 40% of transactions.

The bank said planned increases in Ethereum’s Layer 1 throughput — including steps taken through the Fusaka upgrade in December — are critical, as higher throughput has historically translated into a higher market capitalization.

As The Block previously reported, Ethereum developers deployed two major hard forks last year in Pectra and Fusaka. The successful rollout began a twice-a-year upgrade schedule designed to scale Ethereum’s network into a trillion-dollar ecosystem.

Standard Chartered also added that a more supportive regulatory backdrop could further bolster the outlook, pointing to the proposed U.S. Clarity Act, which it expects to pass in the first quarter. Passage of the bill, combined with resilient U.S. equity markets, could help push Bitcoin to a fresh all-time high in the first half of the year, a scenario the bank said would also underpin Ethereum’s longer-term upside.

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