Standard Chartered Analyst Predicts Major Crypto Growth

A Standard Chartered analyst has shared a bold outlook for the cryptocurrency market. According to Geoff Kendrick, who leads digital asset research at Standard Chartered, both Bitcoin and Ethereum could see substantial gains in the coming years.

In his base scenario, Bitcoin is expected to reach $500,000 by 2030. Given its current price of around $66,800, this would represent more than a sevenfold increase. However, Kendrick believes Ethereum has even greater upside potential.

Ethereum is currently priced at about $2,050, and his forecast suggests it could rise to $40,000. That would mark nearly a twentyfold increase in value, offering significantly higher potential returns compared to Bitcoin.

The analyst also highlights the ETH-to-BTC ratio, which currently stands at around 0.03. He believes it could climb to 0.04 in the near future, indicating Ethereum strengthening relative to Bitcoin.

Kendrick also outlined a shorter-term scenario. If Bitcoin reaches $100,000 by the end of 2026, Ethereum could hit approximately $4,000 within the same timeframe. This would imply gains of about 50% for Bitcoin and 95% for Ethereum from current levels.

Global Head of Digital Assets Research at Standard Chartered:

"I've got $500K Bitcoin by 2030 and $40K Ethereum by 2030 - a massive outperformance."

That's ~20x on $ETH from here. pic.twitter.com/p7dFwPrTzG — Milk Road (@MilkRoad) April 1, 2026

One of the key arguments supporting Ethereum is growing institutional interest. Large companies and financial institutions often begin their blockchain initiatives on Ethereum, viewing it as a secure and well-established network. An example is BlackRock, which initially developed blockchain-based solutions using Ethereum.

According to Kendrick, this trend could drive long-term demand. Ethereum may serve as the primary entry point for integrating blockchain technology into the real economy.

Another contributing factor is increasing network activity. Rising transaction fees, along with the expansion of stablecoins, decentralized finance (DeFi), and asset tokenization, could all contribute to higher valuations.

The forecast was presented on the Milk Road Podcast and quickly gained attention within the crypto community.

However, not everyone shares this optimistic outlook. Many market commentators remain skeptical, especially in the short term. They point to growing economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, and concerns about a potential recession in the United States. According to them, these factors could limit capital inflows into the market and slow down growth—at least in the near future.