- The major British bank Standard Chartered sees Ethereum as a dominant force again in 2026.
- It is assumed that the ETH rate will be at $7,500 at the end of the year.
According to a recent report from British Standard Chartered Bank, Geoffrey Kendrick, head of digital asset research, expects Ethereum to outperform other major cryptocurrencies despite the current weak market phase. Kendrick expects Ether to rise to around $7,500 by the end of 2026.
Why Ethereum is getting strong again
The bank points to several structural factors that favor Ethereum in the long term. This includes leading roles in the key growth sectors of stablecoins, DeFi and RWA tokenization.
They are considered the foundation of the next development phase of the crypto market. At the same time, Standard Chartered highlights the increasing network activity.
There are more transactions, more smart contract usage, and a growing developer base. This dynamic is expected to give Ethereum a relative advantage over Bitcoin, whose performance will be muted in the coming years, according to Standard Chartered.
Technology and regulation as drivers
Another reason for the optimistic assessment is the technological development of the Ethereum network.
Following the introduction of Proof-of-Stake and the increasing adoption of Layer 2 chains, the bank expects a significant improvement in scalability and efficiency.
Standard Chartered also expects a tailwind from regulation: While Bitcoin is primarily viewed as a digital asset, Ethereum is seen as a project with universal tools that can be easily integrated into institutional structures.
Standard Chartered is convinced that the combination of technological maturity and regulatory compliance will make the new year a turning point for Ethereum – the bank is already talking about 2026 as the “Year of Ethereum”.
Long term perspective
Standard Chartered is also extremely optimistic about the future situation beyond 2026. The bank predicts a possible increase to $30,000 by 2029 and $40,000 by 2030.
This should become possible with continued growth in customer usage, increasing institutional demand and advancing tokenization in traditional financial markets.
No Comments