#ETHPlunges5PercentBelow1800

Standard Chartered Cuts Ethereum Target by 47% as ETH Falls Below US$1,800

Standard Chartered has cut its Ethereum price target
ETHUSD
for 2026 by 47% to US$4,000, but maintains a long-term projection of US$40,000 by 2030, which means a potential increase of over 20x even though ETH is trading below US$1,800.

The bank explains this sharp cut as a cycle obstacle, not a fundamental failure. They still expect ETH to recover after possibly reaching a bottom around US$1,400.

Short-term Cut, Long-term Optimism

Now, Standard Chartered forecasts ETH will end 2026 at US$4,000, down from the previous prediction of US$7,500. This revision indicates a nearly 47% decrease.

This cut is not happening alone. The bank also lowered its Bitcoin
BTCUSD
end-of-2026 target to US$100,000, signaling an overall price adjustment, not just for ETH.

ETH price hovered around US$1,745 at the time of publication, down more than 7% today. The token has fallen below the US$1,800 support level that previously held, as part of a major decline in the crypto market.

Nevertheless, the bank maintains its long-term projection. Standard Chartered still expects ETH to reach US$40,000 by 2030, without changing the intermediate target.

Why the Long-term Projection Still Holds

Geoff Kendrick, Head of Global Digital Asset Research at Standard Chartered, leads this note. He remains firm on his 20x growth projection for ETH, despite the price decline.

His analysis is based on network usage. Transaction counts and total value locked are nearly hitting record highs in ETH units, even though the token price is trading about 65% below the August 2025 peak of US$4,946.

Kendrick compares this price decline to Amazon’s fall in 2001, when its stock price plummeted but its core business grew stronger.

“I see ETH’s performance very similar to what Jeff Bezos described about Amazon’s stock during the 2001 tech bubble burst.”

He considers this decline as a market cleansing, not a structural failure.

Outflows and Bear Sentiment Test Bottom Levels

Currently, selling pressure remains high. US spot Ethereum ETFs recorded daily net outflows of around US$52.94 million, with total net assets approaching US$9.96 billion, extending the ongoing Ethereum ETF outflows.

Standard Chartered links the ETH bottom around US$1,400 with the possibility of Bitcoin capitulating further down to US$50,000. This scenario weighs on the short-term ETH price outlook.

Still, a heavy short position offers a chance for a sharp reversal. A short squeeze could occur if ETH manages to reclaim key levels that were previously lost.

Right now, the gap between the short-term target cut and the unchanged long-term projection paints the main picture of ETH’s trading pattern.