Standard Chartered analyst forecasts Ethereum at $8,000

By the end of 2026, the price of the second-largest cryptocurrency could rise fivefold—to $8,000, according to Jeffrey Kendrick, head of research at Standard Chartered. Reuters.

According to the report, Ethereum is gaining traction due to widespread use across diverse ecosystems, smart contracts, gaming, and tokenization of traditional assets.

“We view the $8,000 level as a stepping stone to our long-term ‘structural’ valuation of $26,000-35,000,” the analyst said.

The latest forecast runs through 2040 and envisages further development of Ethereum as well as new uses for blockchain, Kendrick said.

Standard Chartered also forecast active development of layer-2 solutions. This will be aided by upcoming Ethereum upgrades such as proto-danksharding (EIP-4844), which lowers fees.

The growth of the ecosystem, the analyst said, will help cement Ethereum’s dominance in the field of smart contracts, increasing its price-to-earnings ratio in the coming years.

Kendrick noted that the upcoming halving of Bitcoin in April 2024 will also benefit other digital assets, particularly its closest competitor.

“Subsequently, potential regulation and spot ETFs in the United States should benefit Ethereum and the first cryptocurrency. We expect their adoption after the elections,” the analyst added.

All of the above factors could potentially lift ETH to $4,000 by the end of 2024. It is notable that this short-term forecast is below the asset’s peak price of $4,868 reached in November 2021.

At the time of writing, the coin trades at $1,570, down 5.2% over the past week. Prices fell amid the Ethereum Foundation’s sale of a portion of its assets.

ETH’s market capitalization stands at $189.1 billion with a daily trading volume of $8.6 billion.

Earlier, the recent launch of ETH futures on the Ethereum network passed without fanfare. In the first 15 minutes of the session, trading volume on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange did not exceed $2 million.