Standard Chartered Maintains $40,000 ETH Price Target Amid Record Network Activity

TLDR

• Standard Chartered has reiterated its price projection for ETH, anticipating $40,000 by the end of the decade and $4,000 by the close of 2026.
• ETH is currently trading around $2,000, marking a 60% decrease from its August 2025 high of approximately $4,953.
• In the first quarter of 2026, Ethereum recorded a record-breaking quarter, processing over 200 million transactions.
• The total value locked in Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem stands between $43 billion and $45 billion, representing 53% of the global DeFi liquidity.
• The bank’s $40,000 target is contingent on an ETH/BTC ratio of 0.08, which implies a Bitcoin price of $500,000.

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(SeaPRwire) –   Standard Chartered’s research division released a report on Thursday, reaffirming its price targets for Ethereum. The bank’s analysts contend that ETH’s current valuation is significantly out of sync with the activity occurring on its network.

At the time of this report, ETH is trading at approximately $2,000. This represents a 60% decline from its peak of roughly $4,953 reached in August 2025.

For comparative context, Bitcoin has experienced a decline of approximately 42% from its all-time high near $126,000, settling around $72,800. Standard Chartered asserts that the more substantial drop in Ethereum’s price is not supported by the available data.

The bank’s analysts drew a parallel between Ethereum’s current situation and that of Amazon following the dot-com bubble burst in 2001. At that time, despite a 94% collapse in Amazon’s share price, CEO Jeff Bezos highlighted the continuous improvement in the company’s internal metrics. Standard Chartered suggests that Ethereum is experiencing a similar dynamic, with its price decreasing while its network activity reaches unprecedented levels.

Ethereum facilitated over 200 million transactions in the first quarter of 2026, setting a new quarterly record. The total value locked within the Ethereum DeFi ecosystem ranges from $43 billion to $45 billion, accounting for 53% of the total global DeFi liquidity.

On-Chain Metrics vs. Token Price

Standard Chartered’s analysts indicated that ETH possesses “significant scope” to “catch up to internal metrics.” Stablecoins currently constitute 33% of Ethereum transactions year-to-date, a figure the bank anticipates will continue to rise.

Furthermore, the Ethereum Foundation has announced plans for an “economic zone” scheduled for release this summer. This feature is designed to facilitate the seamless transfer of digital assets across networks built on the Ethereum platform.

A substantial portion of ETH, exceeding 36 million tokens or approximately 30% of the total supply, is currently committed to staking contracts, thereby reducing the available supply in the market. Coupled with the fee-burning mechanism introduced by EIP-1559, the circulating supply of ETH has been diminishing while network utilization escalates.

The $40,000 Target Explained

The bank’s target of $40,000 by the end of the decade is predicated on the ETH/BTC price ratio reverting to 0.08, a level last observed during the crypto market peak in 2021. This scenario would necessitate Bitcoin trading at $500,000.

The more immediate target of $4,000 by the end of 2026 would represent approximately a twofold increase from current price levels.

Standard Chartered also identified tokenized real-world assets as a significant growth catalyst. This sector is projected to reach between $4 trillion and $5 trillion by 2030. Should these assets be settled on Ethereum, the demand for ETH as both gas fees and collateral would experience a notable increase.

The bank stated: “If RWAs multiply by 50x over the next few years as we expect, the importance of this sector to Ethereum is set to increase dramatically.”

The prediction market platform Myriad currently assigns a 65% probability to ETH falling to $1,500 before reaching $3,000, reflecting ongoing short-term bearish sentiment among its users.