Overview
- Standard Chartered cut its year-end 2026 ETH target to $7,500 from $12,000 and laid out targets of $15,000 for 2027, $22,000 for 2028, $30,000 for 2029, and $40,000 for 2030.
- The bank expects Ethereum to outperform Bitcoin in 2026, with the ETH-BTC ratio drifting back toward its 2021 peak near 0.08.
- Analysts cite recent hard forks (Pectra and Fusaka) and plans for roughly 10x Layer-1 throughput within two to three years as key drivers.
- Ethereum’s share of stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, and DeFi remains dominant, with transactions at all-time highs and stablecoins making up about 35–40% of activity.
- Supportive flows and policy signals include ongoing accumulation by BitMine Immersion (about 3.4% of supply, targeting 5%), expected U.S. CLARITY Act progress in Q1 2026, and Standard Chartered’s exploration of a crypto prime-brokerage via SC Ventures.