One of the largest banks in the world reportedly believes that the smart contract platform Ethereum () could soar by more than 2,100%.
According to a new CNBC article, the UK-based bank Standard Chartered is predicting that Ethereum will eventually increase to as high as $35,000 after hitting $8,000 in about three years.
Geoff Kendrick, an analyst at the London-based bank, says that increasing use cases and layer-2 scaling solutions built on Ethereum are among the reasons for the price forecast.
“We think 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 [which is] a stepping stone to our long-term ‘structural’ valuation estimate of $26,000-$35,000.”
According to CNBC, Kendrick believes gaming and tokenization of real-world assets offer some of the greatest growth potential for Ethereum.
He also expresses optimism about planned Ethereum upgrades. In early 2024, Ethereum is slated to implement “proto-danksharding,” which would increase the network’s transaction speed and lower transaction costs.
“Layer 2 scaling solutions… are likely to grow in importance over time, particularly as architecture upgrades expected in early 2024 sharply lower fees on these platforms. This should help to cement ETH’s dominance in the smart contract space, thereby increasing its P/E (price to earnings) ratio over the next couple of years.”
With ETH trading for $1,540 at time of writing, an increase to $35,000 would represent a 2,173% jump, while a move to $8,000 would be a 419% increase.
Standard Chartered is the 43rd largest bank in the world with $820 billion of assets under management.
