Standard Chartered Cuts Short-Term Ether Outlook Amid Softer Institutional Demand

Digital asset analyst Geoff Kendrick has cut his price targets for the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency just weeks after slashing forecasts for Bitcoin. The report lowers the 2026 projection by 38% to $7,500 and cuts the 2027 target by 17% to $15,000.

Outlook

The report cuts Standard Chartered’s Ether forecast by 38% for 2026, to $7,500, and by 17% for 2027, to $15,000. 

The 2028 target was also trimmed by 12%, to $22,000. Kendrick, however, raised his 2029 forecast by 20%, to $30,000, and maintained his $40,000 target for 2030.

Despite the downgrade, the outlook still implies substantial upside. Based on current levels, Kendrick’s revised forecasts point to roughly 150% growth for Ether in 2026, compared with around 70% for Bitcoin over the same period.

In December, Kendrick similarly downgraded his short-term Bitcoin outlook, while reiterating a $500,000 price target for 2030, signalling his continued conviction in the long-term adoption of the cryptocurrency despite recent headwinds.

ETFs & DATs

Kendrick attributed the revised outlook to weaker inflows into both Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in recent months - an area he has previously framed as a primary driver of crypto price action – alongside a slowdown in buying from digital asset treasuries (DATs). 

According to the analyst, DAT accumulation has “mostly ended” following the late-2025 collapse in mNAVs, the preferred valuation metric of many treasury vehicles, which has fallen below the key 1.0x threshold for several major players.

Ether expected to outperform

While Kendrick acknowledged that Bitcoin’s weaker-than-expected performance has weighed on the broader crypto market, he argued that Ether is better positioned to outperform over time. 

Even with ETF inflows stalling across both assets, Kendrick argues flows are currently more supportive for Ether than for Bitcoin, pointing to continued ETH accumulation by BMNR, the largest ETH DAT.

The report also points to the rapid expansion of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) as a tailwind for Ether. Standard Chartered forecasts both stablecoins and RWAs to reach market capitalizations of $2tn each by end-2028. 

With Ethereum currently hosting the majority of tokenized RWAs and stablecoin issuance, Kendrick argues the network is well-positioned to capture that growth as onchain adoption scales.