ETH may have just received its strongest institutional vote of confidence yet, with Standard Chartered backing bullish Ethereum price predictions over Bitcoin.
BTC appears to be moving to the sidelines as the new year sees fresh capital rotation into altcoins, and ETH is making its mark as the TradFi play of choice.
Standard Chartered Global Head of Digital Assets Research, Geoffrey Kendrich, argues that Ethereum has found deeper relevance in this institution-led market cycle.
Its dominant status in stablecoin issuance, real-world asset tokenisation, and DeFi, alongside rising network throughput, has given it the fundamental advantage over Bitcoin.
An advantage Kendrick expects to be explored from 2026 onward as regulatory clarity improves, with legislation such as the U.S. Clarity Act.
And Ethereum’s growing exposure could fuel it. Exchange-traded products and corporate treasury vehicles have created multiple touch points for demand in mainstream TradFi markets, making capital access broader and more persistent than in previous cycles.
These drivers position 2026 as a year where adoption, sentiment, and capital flows converge, a backdrop Kendrick believes could mirror 2021-style outperformance, when the BTC-ETH ratio was around 0.08.
Ethereum Price Prediction: Is $100,000 ETH in Sight?
Ultimately, Kendrick remains conservative with his mid-term Ethereum price target of $7,500 in 2026, but increasingly bullish on its long-term potential of $40,000 set for 2030.
A two and a half year ascending channel could reveal how it plays out, with the past year forming a bullish head-and-shoulders pattern that sets up its breakout.
The Ethereum price has confirmed a local bottom at $2,750, forming higher lows in a fresh uptrend that solidifies the right shoulder.
Momentum indicators add validity to the trend. The RSI is compressing against the 50 neutral line after several higher lows, suggesting strength beneath the surface.
The MACD has also reversed towards the signal line in a potential golden cross setup, a sign that buyers may soon control the prevailing trend.
A fully realized right shoulder targets the key breakout of the channel, past all-time highs around $4,950. With a channel breakout to follow, Kendrick’s 2028 expectations could be in focus at $18,000 – a 460% gain.
But for 2026, the breakout path could see conservative targets surpassed, eying the $10,000 milestone for a 220% gain.
Though this outcome likely hinges on traditional financial activity moving on-chain and expanding regulation outside of U.S. markets.
However, a $100,000 Ethereum price is likely to be realized in the next decade if Ethereum infrastructure establishes itself for real-world use cases.
Bitcoin Hyper: Bitcoin Can’t Be Ruled Out Just Yet
Institutions that chose Ethereum as their TradFi bet may soon need to reconsider, as the Bitcoin ecosystem finally tackles its biggest limitation: scalability.
Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is bridging Bitcoin’s security with Solana tech, creating a new Layer-2 network that unlocks scalable, efficient use cases Bitcoin couldn’t support on its own.
Just Layer-2s like Ondo did for Ethereum, Bitcoin Hyper could bring Bitcoin deeper into the DeFi conversation.
The project has already raised over $30 million in presale, and post-launch, even a small fraction of Bitcoin’s massive trading volume could send its valuation significantly higher.
Bitcoin Hyper is fixing the slow transactions, high fees, and limited programmability that have long capped Bitcoin’s potential – just as the market turns bullish.
Visit the Official Bitcoin Hyper Website Here
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