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

BlockBeats News, January 12th, Standard Chartered Bank issued a positive signal on the Ethereum outlook, with the bank's Global Head of Digital Assets Research, Geoffrey Kendrick, stating that despite recent price predictions being revised downward in the overall bearish crypto market environment, he expects Ethereum to outperform other cryptocurrencies by 2026.

“I believe 2026 will be the year of Ethereum, much like 2021,” Kendrick wrote in a note in the bank's latest digital assets report. He pointed out that the growth in blockchain and on-chain product adoption will be a key driver for Ethereum to “significantly outperform the broader market.”

The report noted that due to Bitcoin's continued dominant position in the field, its underperformance has weakened the digital asset's appreciation prospects against the dollar. However, Kendrick emphasized that Ethereum's momentum is strengthening compared to Bitcoin.

Standard Chartered Bank expects the ETH/BTC exchange rate to gradually return to the high level of around 0.08 in 2021, thanks to Ethereum's structural advantages that other cryptocurrencies lack, including its dominance in stablecoins, real-world assets, and decentralized finance, as well as ongoing efforts for network scalability.

The bank believes that the planned increase in Ethereum Layer 1 throughput (including measures taken through the Fusaka upgrade in December last year) is crucial, as historical data shows that higher throughput often translates to a higher market value. Additionally, a more favorable regulatory environment may further improve the outlook, specifically mentioning the potential passage of the U.S. “Clarity Act” in the first quarter. If approved, combined with the resilience of the U.S. stock market, it may propel Bitcoin to new heights in the first half of the year, a scenario that the bank believes will also support Ethereum's long-term upward trajectory.

This forecast comes as Standard Chartered Bank's stance on Bitcoin and Ethereum diverges—while it has lowered Ethereum's absolute price targets for the next few years, its view on Ethereum is more positive than on Bitcoin. The bank currently expects Ethereum to reach $7,500 by the end of 2026, a decrease from the previous forecast of $12,000; the targets for 2027 and 2028 have been adjusted to $15,000 and $22,000, respectively, lower than earlier expectations. However, the bank has raised its long-term outlook, increasing the forecast for the end of 2029 to $30,000 and adding a target of $40,000 by the end of 2030.