Standard Chartered Holds $4K ETH Target, Draws Amazon 2001 Parallel

Ethereum News

Standard Chartered Bank is maintaining its forecast for Ether (ETH) to reach $4,000 by end-2026 and $40,000 by end-2030, arguing that the token's recent price decline does not reflect conditions on the Ethereum network. Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank's Global Head of Digital Assets Research, laid out the case in a note published May 28.

Kendrick compared ETH's current position to Amazon's stock during the 2001 dot-com collapse. He cited a 2018 speech in which Jeff Bezos described watching Amazon's share price fall from $113 to $6 while internal business metrics kept improving. Amazon's stock has risen roughly 1,000-fold from those lows since. "ETH will catch up to the internal metrics, it is just a matter of time," Kendrick wrote.

Stablecoins and RWAs Drive Kendrick's Thesis

A core part of Kendrick's outlook rests on Ethereum's position in the stablecoin and tokenized real-world asset (RWA) markets. He noted that 54% of all stablecoins currently sit on Ethereum, that stablecoins account for roughly one-third of all Ethereum transactions year-to-date in 2026, and that they represent 60% of gross TVL on the network. Kendrick projects the global stablecoin market cap could grow sixfold to around $2 trillion by end-2028, from approximately $321 billion currently.

On tokenized non-stablecoin RWAs, Kendrick expects the sector to expand 50-fold to $2 trillion by end-2028. Ethereum currently hosts around 62% of tokenized RWAs and 68% of active on-chain loans. He said continued growth in both categories would push transaction volumes and TVL to new highs, supporting higher ETH prices over time.

Retail traders began buying the dip as ETH dropped below $2,000 for the first time since late March. Analytics firm Santiment's bullish-to-bearish sentiment ratio for the token reached a month-high of 2.4-to-1 on May 27. Santiment placed that reading in what it defines as fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) territory, and noted retail crowd calls at these levels have historically preceded further price declines.

Derivatives data offered a more cautious read. Ethereum futures open interest climbed to a record 16.39 million ETH, equivalent to $32.61 billion, even as the price fell. Rising open interest alongside falling prices is typically associated with an increase in short positions. #Funding rates on perpetual contracts held flat at 0.0022%, indicating limited appetite for leveraged long exposure, according to Coinglass data.

Kendrick also pointed to two structural developments as potential tailwinds. Firstly, the upcoming Ethereum Economic Zone is designed to improve asset mobility and composability across the network while reducing dependence on bridge infrastructure. He also cited progress on the US CLARITY Act, noting that clearer crypto market structure rules could support DeFi growth and activity on Ethereum.