Standard Chartered Bank: Ethereum Expected to Outperform Market Significantly by 2026, Reaching $7,500 by Year End

Standard Chartered Bank has issued a positive signal on the outlook for Ethereum, with the bank's Global Head of Digital Asset Research, Geoffrey Kendrick, stating that despite recent price forecast adjustments in the overall crypto market, he expects Ethereum to outperform other cryptocurrencies by 2026. Kendrick wrote in the bank's latest digital asset report that he believes 2026 will be the year of Ethereum, similar to 2021, citing the growth in blockchain and on-chain product adoption as key factors driving Ethereum's significant outperformance of the market. The report notes that due to Bitcoin's continued dominance in the field, its underperformance has weakened the prospects for digital assets relative to the US dollar. However, Kendrick emphasizes 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, benefiting from Ethereum's structural advantages that other cryptocurrencies lack, including dominance in stablecoins, real-world assets, and decentralized finance, as well as ongoing network scalability efforts. 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 into higher market value. Additionally, a more favorable regulatory environment may further improve prospects, particularly mentioning the US 'Clarity Act' expected to be passed in the first quarter. If approved, combined with the resilience of the US stock market, it may push Bitcoin to new historical highs in the first half of the year, which the bank believes will also support Ethereum's long-term upward trend. This forecast comes as Standard Chartered Bank's stance on Bitcoin and Ethereum appears to diverge - while lowering absolute price targets for Ethereum in the coming years, the view on Ethereum is more positive than Bitcoin. The bank currently predicts Ethereum to reach $7,500 by the end of 2026, down from the previous forecast of $12,000; targets for 2027 and 2028 have been adjusted to $15,000 and $22,000 respectively, lower than earlier expectations. However, Standard Chartered 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.

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