Kendrick cites crypto regulation as a catalyst for ETH’s rally in 2026

Standard Chartered raised its forecast on Ethereum on Monday, saying it could hit $40,000 by 2030. He also believes that ETH’s growth this year will outperform Bitcoin, driven by improving relative fundamentals in the market.

The bank’s Head of Digital Assets Research, Geoff Kendrick, stated that the prospects for Ethereum in 2026 have significantly improved. He also anticipates that the digital asset will cross and gradually return to its 2021 highs. 

Kendrick cites crypto regulation as a catalyst for ETH’s rally in 2026

Kendrick pointed to weaker-than-expected BTC performance weighing on the broader cryptocurrency industry as evidence for ETH’s potential rally. He also argued that continued purchases by the largest Ethereum-focused digital asset treasury company will push ETH higher this year. 

The analyst forecasted that Ethereum will surge, driven by its dominance in stablecoins. He also pointed to the progress in plans to increase the digital asset’s Layer-1 throughput by tenfold.

Standard Chartered’s analyst also believes that regulations surrounding the crypto industry are a potential catalyst to catapult ETH’s price. He pointed to the Senate Agriculture and Banking Committees’ vote on the CLARITY Act legislation expected on Thursday. 

Kendrick acknowledged that the passage of the bill will establish a clearer framework for virtual assets. He also believes the legislation could significantly benefit Ethereum by unlocking further DeFi developments. Standard Chartered revealed that it lowered its ETH-USD forecast for 2026-2028 due to the weakness in Bitcoin prices. 

For the near term, Kendrick predicts that Ethereum’s price will reach $7,500 in 2026, which would be a new all-time high for the digital asset. The analyst had previously forecasted that ETH would hit $12,000 this year. For its longer-term outlook, Standard Chartered predicts that ETH prices will reach $30,000 by 2029 and $40,000 by 2030.

Kendrick’s forecast suggests that Ethereum would have to surge by nearly 1,200% from current prices to hit its $40,000 target. At the time of publication, Ethereum is trading at $3,099, down nearly 1.45% in the past 24 hours. The digital asset has also declined by more than 1.7% over the past 30 days.

Bitmine adds more ETH to its balance sheet

Standard Chartered’s forecast on ETH comes as the leading publicly traded Ethereum treasury firm, Bitmine Immersion Technologies, continues accumulating the digital asset. The firm purchased an additional 24,266 ETH over the last week, worth around $76 million.

Bitmine’s latest acquisition has increased its ETH portfolio to over 4.16 million ETH, valued at more than $13 billion. The firm now ranks as the largest Ethereum treasury company and also the second-largest digital asset treasury behind Strategy. 

Bitmine’s ETH stockpile accounts for about 3.5% of the entire Ethereum circulating supply. The firm’s Chairman, Tom Lee, argued that many positive things favor Ethereum in 2026. He pointed to the adoption of stablecoins and tokenization, saying both will make the ETH blockchain the settlement layer of Wall Street.

Lee also stated that 2026 is the year crypto prices will recover, calling the October 10 record-setting liquidation a mini-crypto winter. He also believes ETH will record stronger gains in 2027-2028.

Lee predicted on January 2 that Ethereum could reach $250,000, a more than 7,800% surge from the current prices. He also forecasted a future price of $5,000 per share for BNMR based on its relationship to ETH’s price. The firm is seeking shareholder approval to increase the authorized share count from 500 million to 50 billion.

Lee stated that the treasury company needs the increase in authorized shares to accommodate future share splits. He also argued that the initiative will allow BNMR to issue shares for capital market activities selectively and to consider selective acquisitions.

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