While Standard Chartered gives a bullish outlook on Ethereum, JPMorgan Chase analysts ask to maintain caution amid declining Ethereum network activity.
Amid the current macro developments, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency Ethereum has come under significant selling pressure. Earlier this week, ETH price came crashing under $1,600 with the Ethereum Foundation selling $2.7 million worth of ETH. Despite this, some of the big market players continue to remain bullish on Ethereum. According to a recent report by multinational bank Standard Chartered, the price of Ethereum is projected to potentially reach $8,000 by the conclusion of 2026.
This would mark a fivefold rally from the current price of $1,600. Speaking on the development, Geoffrey Kendrick, Head of Crypto Research at Standard Chartered said:
“Ethereum’s established dominance in smart contract platforms, along with emerging uses in gaming and tokenization, has the potential to push ETH to the $8,000 level by end-2026.”
The report highlights the growth of Ethereum’s layer 2 scaling solutions as a possible driving factor. Anticipated Ethereum upgrades, such as proto-danksharding, have the potential to reduce transaction costs on these networks, solidify Ethereum’s dominance in the realm of smart contracts, and potentially boost its value.
Geoff Kendrick, the report’s author, considers the $8,000 target as an initial milestone on the path toward the bank’s previously stated long-term valuation range of $26,000 to $35,000 for Ethereum. Although this long-term projection assumes the emergence of future use cases and revenue streams, Kendrick believes that real-world adoption in sectors like gaming and asset tokenization could help make this a reality.
Notably, Kendrick had also set a $120,000 price target for Bitcoin by the close of 2024 earlier this year. Bitcoin’s current trading price is approximately $27,000.
Ethereum Investors Need to Maintain Caution
While the long-term outlook is bullish for Ethereum, some Ethereum network developments suggest a poor show. After the April Shanghai upgrade, the Ethereum network encountered a notable 12% reduction in daily transactions, a concern highlighted by analysts at JPMorgan Chase, led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou.
This decline in network activity also coincided with a significant 20% decrease in daily active addresses. Additionally, there was an 8% drop in the total value locked on the Ethereum network. The launch of nine Ether futures ETFs also failed to deliver robust performance.
#Ethereum is moving within a steady range. Interestingly, the TD Sequential presented a buy signal at the lower end of this range, suggesting $ETH could rebound to $1,630.
But be cautious – if #ETH closes below $1,530, the bullish outlook will be invalidated. pic.twitter.com/hvwoyDy7AB
— Ali (@ali_charts) October 11, 2023
Popular crypto analyst Ali Martinez said that Ethereum is currently trading within a stable range. Notably, the TD Sequential indicator has generated a buy signal near the lower boundary of this range, indicating a potential rebound to $1,630 for $ETH. However, it’s important to exercise caution. If Ethereum closes below $1,530, it may invalidate the bullish outlook.
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