Ethereum (ETH) has followed Bitcoin (BTC) and much of the wider crypto market lower over the past 48 hours, dropping below the key $2,000 support level and reigniting concerns among some investors that a longer bear phase could be underway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even with the recent slide, Standard Chartered\u2019s Digital Assets Research Head, Geoff Kendrick, says the bank is not backing away from its bullish long-term outlook for Ethereum.<\/p>\n
In a note <\/a>to investors on Thursday, Kendrick reaffirmed Standard Chartered\u2019s core projection for Ethereum\u2019s performance over the next four years, including its end-2030 target of $40,000 for ETH.\u00a0<\/p>\n He linked the current weakness to something investors may eventually look back on as a confusing, even misleading, signal. Rather than treating the price drop as proof that the network is weakening, Kendrick argued that Ethereum\u2019s usage metrics<\/a> are continuing to improve even as the token\u2019s market value loses ground.<\/p>\n To illustrate the gap between price action and underlying progress, Kendrick drew a comparison to Amazon during the 2001 dot-com bust. His argument echoes a line often attributed to Jeff Bezos: that while a company\u2019s stock can go the wrong way, \u201ceverything inside the company\u201d can still be moving in the right direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kendrick specifically said that Ethereum will \u201ccatch up\u201d to those improving internal metrics and suggested that investors are effectively watching a delay between operational strength and market pricing.\u00a0<\/p>\n Standard Chartered\u2019s view leans heavily on measurable indicators that Kendrick says support Ethereum\u2019s position in key parts of the crypto economy<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the bank\u2019s central points is Ethereum\u2019s role in stablecoins. Kendrick noted that 54% of all stablecoins are currently issued on the network. He also said stablecoins make up around one-third of all Ethereum transactions in 2026 year-to-date.\u00a0<\/p>\n Based on that momentum, Standard Chartered projects the stablecoin market cap could increase sixfold from current levels by the end of 2028.<\/p>\n A second major pillar of the bullish case is Ethereum\u2019s position in tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). Kendrick said Ethereum hosts around 62% of RWAs and about 68% of active on-chain loans.\u00a0<\/p>\nETH Upside Signals<\/h2>\n