Standard Chartered keeps $40,000 ETH target

On May 28, Standard Chartered’s Global Research team maintained a $40,000 price target for Ethereum (ETH) even after the token fell about 57% from its August 2025 peak. The bank pointed to continued network activity and projected growth in stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets as the basis for its long-term view.

The research note, led by Geoff Kendrick, reported that transaction counts and total value locked on Ethereum, measured in ETH terms, remain near record levels despite the price decline. The note argued market attention is concentrated on the fall in ETH’s market value rather than on-chain usage metrics.

Kendrick wrote, “Internal metrics for Ethereum (ETH) continue to improve … However, the ETH price continues to underperform in both absolute and relative terms – ETH-USD has fallen 57% from its August 2025 high.” The note added that the gap between network activity and price could narrow if settlement and smart-contract demand rises.

Standard Chartered projected the stablecoin market could expand about sixfold by the end of 2028 and estimated tokenized real-world assets excluding stablecoins could grow roughly fiftyfold over the same period. The bank said Ethereum currently captures roughly 50%–65% of both markets and that those sectors already account for more than half of value locked on the network.

The bank set a multi-year price path for ETH: $4,000 at end-2026, $10,000 in 2027, $18,000 in 2028, $28,000 in 2029 and $40,000 by the end of 2030. Standard Chartered also expects the ETH-to-Bitcoin ratio to rise from about 0.04 in 2026 to 0.08 by 2030. The note included bitcoin forecasts of $100,000 in 2026 and $500,000 in 2030.

The research compared Ethereum’s situation to companies that saw large share-price losses after a market peak while continuing to grow their businesses, using Amazon after the dot-com crash as an example. The bank said the comparison illustrates a possible disconnect between market sentiment and network use rather than a collapse in demand for on-chain services.

Stablecoins are tokens designed to hold a stable value, often pegged to fiat currencies, and are commonly used for trading, remittances and settlement. Tokenized real-world assets convert ownership of physical or financial assets into digital tokens that can be traded and settled on blockchains. Analysts and institutions monitor transaction counts and total value locked to assess network use, while market prices for cryptocurrencies are affected by investor sentiment, macro conditions and trading flows.

Kendrick closed the note by reaffirming the bank’s forecasts: “We reaffirm our ETH forecasts of USD 4,000 for end-2026 and USD 40,000 for end-2030.”