StanChart tips 2026 as Ethereum’s breakout year, lifts long-term price outlook
January 18, 2026
Standard Chartered believes 2026 could be a pivotal year for Ethereum (COIN:ETHUSD), as improving fundamentals set the stage for renewed relative strength against Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD), according to analyst Geoff Kendrick.
Kendrick said softer-than-expected Bitcoin performance has dampened the outlook for dollar-denominated digital assets, leading to cuts to Ethereum’s absolute price forecasts for 2026–2028. Even so, he argued that Ethereum’s relative position has strengthened. “we think ETH’s prospects have improved. We therefore expect the cross to gradually return to its 2021 highs,” he said.
Several factors underpin the more constructive relative view. Kendrick highlighted continued accumulation by Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE:BMNR), described as the largest Ethereum-focused digital asset treasury company. While ETF inflows across crypto have paused and most corporate treasury buying has cooled, BMNR’s ongoing ETH purchases are seen as giving Ethereum an edge.
He also pointed to Ethereum’s leading role across stablecoins, tokenised real-world assets and decentralised finance, which the bank views as core, long-term growth drivers for the digital asset ecosystem.
On the technology front, Kendrick said plans to lift Ethereum’s layer-one throughput by a factor of ten over the next two to three years “appear to be working,” noting that recent upgrades have already boosted capacity. “Analysis shows that higher throughput translates into higher market cap,” he added.
Regulation could provide an additional tailwind. Kendrick said potential passage of the U.S. CLARITY Act — designed to bring clearer rules to digital assets — would likely support the sector and “particularly ETH” if it enables the next phase of decentralised finance. “The Senate is due to review the bill on 15 January, and passage could happen in Q1. We expect CLARITY Act passage, along with solid US equity-market performance, to push BTC to a fresh all-time high in H1,” he wrote.
While Kendrick trimmed his end-2026 Ethereum price forecast to $7,500, he raised his longer-term expectations, unveiling a new $40,000 target for the end of 2030. He now sees ETH reaching $15,000 by the end of 2027 and $22,000 by the end of 2028, before climbing to $30,000 in 2029.
For Bitcoin, Kendrick forecasts prices of $150,000 in 2026, rising to $225,000 in 2027 and $300,000 in 2028, with further gains projected to $400,000 in 2029 and $500,000 by 2030.
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