Standard Chartered predicts Ethereum will reach $40,000 by 2030, outperforming Bitcoin due to growing onchain finance adoption. The bank's research highlights Ethereum's advantages in tokenisation and stablecoins over Bitcoin's limitations. This outlook comes amid recent adjustments to shorter-term price targets for the cryptocurrency.
Standard Chartered, a major British multinational bank, released a research note on January 12 forecasting that Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, will hit $40,000 by 2030. The prediction attributes this growth to Ethereum's stronger position in onchain finance compared to Bitcoin. Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank's global head of digital assets research and author of the note, stated, “2026 will be the year of Ethereum, much like 2021 was.”
The forecast anticipates the Ethereum-to-Bitcoin price ratio returning to its 2021 peak of around 0.08, up from the current 0.03. At a ratio of 0.16, the two assets would have equal market values. Ethereum currently hosts over $10 billion in crypto and real-world assets, including the majority of stablecoins backed by US Treasury bonds. In contrast, Bitcoin lacks support for programmable smart contracts, resulting in a minimal onchain ecosystem.
Broader trends bolster this view. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent envisions stablecoins expanding to a $3 trillion market by 2030. A report from Ripple and Boston Consulting Group in April projected tokenised assets on blockchains exceeding $19 trillion by 2033. Ethereum's role in tokenisation positions it to capitalise on this shift.
Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen $1.9 billion in outflows since November, per DefiLlama data, while Bitcoin ETFs recorded $4.6 billion in outflows. Despite this, Kendrick noted that ETF flows are “more constructive for ETH than for BTC at present.” Developers aim to boost Ethereum's transaction throughput tenfold within two to three years, further enhancing its appeal.
Regulatory developments also factor in. The proposed US Clarity Act, expected to pass in the first quarter of 2026, would establish a framework for decentralised finance, encouraging traditional firms to adopt blockchain. Standard Chartered remains optimistic about Bitcoin, reiterating a $500,000 target by 2030 and lowering Ethereum's near-term forecasts to $7,500 for 2026 (from $12,000) and $15,000 for 2027 (from $18,000). Kendrick added, “We expect Clarity Act passage, along with solid US equity-market performance, to push BTC to a fresh all-time high in H1, defying fears of further price declines at this stage of the Bitcoin ‘halving’ cycle.”
