Standard Chartered Predicts Ether to Soar to $8,000 by Late 2026

According to Geoff Kendrick, who serves as the Head of FX Research, West, and Digital Assets Research at Standard Chartered Bank, there is an anticipation of a substantial surge in the price of ether (ETH). It is projected to potentially reach $8,000 by the end of 2026, signifying a significant upswing from its current value, which lingers just below $1,600.

Kendrick emphasizes that even though non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi) currently hold sway over Ethereum's applications, the platform's prospective diversification into gaming and tokenization is foreseen to yield considerable demand. This shift could furnish tangible instances of industries from the real world harnessing Ethereum's benefits over their existing infrastructures, providing a concrete "proof of concept." Kendrick foresees substantial advancements in these domains by 2025-26.

Looking closer on the horizon, Kendrick anticipates that the Bitcoin (BTC) halving event slated for April 2024 will exert a positive influence on the broader cryptocurrency market. He envisions ether potentially surging to $4,000 by the culmination of the subsequent year.

Taking a longer view, Kendrick regards the envisaged $8,000 level as a pivotal milestone on the path toward the bank's more "structural" valuation estimate, which ranges from $26,000 to $35,000.

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