Ethereum Seen At $40,000 By 2030, Bitcoin To Hit New High In 2026: Standard Chartered

Standard Chartered’s Geoffery Kendrick said 2026 is slated to be “the year of Ethereum” even as the firm lowered its price targets on the leading altcoin.

• Ethereum’s price edged 0.3% higher in the last 24 hours, maintaining above $3,100. 
• Standard Chartered now expects Ethereum’s price to hit $7,500 by year end, down from its initial forecast of $12,000. 
• Standard Chartered expects the CLARITY Act, combined with the resilience of U.S. equity markets, to push Bitcoin to a new all-time high in the first half of the year.

Standard Chartered’s Geoffery Kendrick said 2026 is slated to be “the year of Ethereum (ETH)” even as the firm lowered its price targets for the leading altcoin, citing weaker momentum across all cryptocurrencies with Bitcoin’s (BTC) weak roll out in the beginning of the year. 

Ethereum’s price edged 0.3% higher in the last 24 hours, maintaining above $3,100. Retail sentiment around the token, however, dipped to ‘extremely bearish’ from ‘bearish’ over the past day amid ‘low’ levels of chatter.

Standard Chartered now expects Ethereum’s price to hit $7,500 by year end, down from its initial forecast of $12,000. The target still predicts a potential upside of over 140%. “We lower our year-end ETH-USD forecasts for 2026 to 2028 to reflect broader weakness in digital assets,” the bank said. “However, we raise our longer-term ETH-USD forecasts.”

Ethereum’s Price To Hit $40,000 By 2030

Under the revised projections, Standard Chartered now sees Ethereum at $15,000 in 2027, down from $18,000 and $22,000 in 2028, down from and $25,000. The bank maintained its 2029 target at $30,000 and expects ETH to reach $40,000 by the end of 2030.

Bitcoin’s price forecasts were unchanged, with the bank projecting BTC at $150,000 in 2026, rising to $500,000 by 2030.

CLARITY Act Could Unlock Next Phase for DeFi

The bank predicted that the potential passage of the CLARITY Act, which would establish a regulatory framework for digital assets, could be particularly supportive for Ethereum if it enables further development of decentralised finance.

Standard Chartered expects the legislation, which has been delayed to February, combined with the resilience of U.S. equity markets, to push Bitcoin to a new all-time high in the first half of the year.

Why Ethereum’s Long-Term Case Has Strengthened

Despite trimming near-term estimates, Standard Chartered said the driver behind Ethereum has improved this year. “I think 2026 will be the year of Ethereum,” Geoffrey said over email, pointing to several factors supporting that view.

The firm noted that inflows into ETFs and digital-asset treasury companies (DATs) have slowed across the sector, but continued accumulation by Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) has provided ETH with a relative advantage. The Tom Leed-backed firm is the largest Ethereum-focused corporate treasury. BMNR’s stock edged 0.79% lower in pre-market trade after notching a gain of 3.56% in regular trading. Retail sentiment around the stock remained in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day. 

The bank also remains bullish on stablecoins, real-world assets (RWAs), and decentralised finance (DeFi), areas where Ethereum maintains a dominant share of activity. 

It added that Ethereum’s plan to increase transactions on its layer 1 network by tenfold is showing progress, according to the bank’s analysis. Standard Chartered said higher transaction throughput has historically translated into higher network value and market capitalisation.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<