Standard Chartered: Ethereum to ‘Significantly Outperform the Market’ by 2026, Ending the Year at $7500

Jan 12 — Standard Chartered Bank issued a bullish outlook on Ethereum, with Global Head of Digital Assets Research Geoffrey Kendrick saying the crypto will outperform peers by 2026 despite downward revisions to its absolute price targets amid a bearish crypto market. In the bank’s latest digital assets report note, Kendrick stated: “I believe 2026 will be Ethereum’s year, much like 2021.” He cited growth in blockchain and on-chain product adoption as a key driver for ETH to “significantly outperform the broader market.” The report noted Bitcoin’s continued dominance has weakened its upside potential against the dollar, but Kendrick emphasized Ethereum’s momentum is strengthening relative to BTC. Standard Chartered expects the ETH/BTC pair to gradually return to its 2021 high of ~0.08, driven by Ethereum’s structural advantages—including dominance in stablecoins, real-world assets (RWA), and decentralized finance (DeFi)—plus ongoing network scalability efforts. Critical to this outlook: planned Layer 1 throughput boosts, including December’s Fusaka upgrade. Historical data shows higher throughput often correlates with higher market value, the bank said. A friendlier regulatory environment could also lift Ethereum’s prospects, specifically the potential passage of the U.S. Clarity Act in Q1. If approved, combined with U.S. stock market resilience, BTC could hit new highs in H1 2024—a scenario the bank says will support Ethereum’s long-term uptrend. The forecast comes as Standard Chartered’s stance on BTC and ETH diverges: while it has cut its absolute price targets for Ethereum over the next few years, its ETH outlook remains more bullish than on Bitcoin. The bank now sees ETH at $7,500 by end-2026 (down from $12,000 prior), $15,000 in 2027, $22,000 in 2028, $30,000 in 2029, and $40,000 by end-2030.