 
 
British multinational bank and wealth management firm Standard Chartered has dramatically slashed its multi-year price targets for Ether for 2026 through 2028 due to broader weakness across digital assets.
However, Standard Chartered still expects Ether to outshine Bitcoin, hitting $40,000 by 2030.
Standard Chartered Trims Medium-Term ETH Outlook
Standard Chartered has adopted a more cautious view on Ether’s price trajectory in the medium term.
The bank now forecasts the Ether price will reach $7,500 by the end of 2026, down from a previous target of $12,000, according to a Monday report. The bank also trimmed its bold end-2028 prediction from $25,000 to $22,000, citing weaker-than-expected Bitcoin performance.
“Weaker-than-expected Bitcoin performance has dampened prospects for all digital assets against the USD given Bitcoin’s continued dominance of the sector,” wrote Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered.
 
Long-Term Outlook Remains Rosy
Still, Kendrick expects Ethereum to outperform crypto peers in 2026, even as the banking giant cuts near-term price projections.
“I think 2026 will be the year of Ethereum, much like 2021 was,” Kendrick stated in a note accompanying Standard Chartered’s report. He highlighted the growing adoption of blockchains, on-chain products, and U.S. legislation as drivers that should allow Ether to “outperform significantly.”
“Passage of the U.S. CLARITY Act — which creates a regulatory framework for digital assets — would boost digital assets, particularly ETH, if it unlocks the next steps for DeFi,” said Kendrick.
Standard Chartered believes the ETH-BTC ratio will gradually return to its 2021 highs of approximately 0.08 over time, as Ethereum benefits from structural benefits not shared by its peers. Those include its dominant status in stablecoins, real-world assets, and decentralized finance, as well as progress on scaling Ethereum’s base layer.
Standard Chartered noted that flows into crypto exchange-traded funds and corporate treasury vehicles have slowed across the board, yet Ether benefits from continued buying by Bitmine Immersion, the largest Ethereum-focused corporate treasury. BitMine currently holds approximately 3.4% of all Ether in circulation and remains focused on reaching its 5% target.
As such, the bank has raised its longer-term outlook for ETH, lifting its end-2029 forecast to $30,000 and introducing a new $40,000 target for end-2030.
Bitcoin is currently stuck in a tight range between $90,000 and $93,000 with no catalysts to push it higher. The top crypto is trading at $92,179, up 1.7% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data.
Ethereum has tracked BTC’s modest gains, now trading at $3,134 as of publication time.