Benzinga - Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) blockchain’s native cryptocurrency, Ether, is estimated to reach $8,000 by 2026-end, Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) research stated.
The bank’s long-term structural valuation for Ether ranged between $26,000 to $35,000, as it had estimated back in September 2021. Geoffrey Kendrick, head of forex and crypto research at SCB, believed real-world use cases of Ether in gaming and tokenization could support the token’s development.
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“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 (a 5x multiple from the current price of $1,600),” Kendrick said, reported The Block.
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In April 2023, SCB’s Kendrick forecasted a $100,000 price for Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) by 2024 end. He believed that with troubles surrounding the stablecoins, Bitcoin is now regarded as the digital gold of the crypto space.
Ethereum’s Strengths: Ethereum is said to have a dominance in the smart contract space which is further strengthened by its upcoming technical upgrades, such as proto-danksharding, that would help lower transaction fees on these platforms. In the past year, Ether prices saw a surge of 20% with the past 24-hour trading volume of almost $8 billion.
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Among the many factors, the upcoming Bitcoin halving event in April 2024, potential regulation and spot ETFs in the U.S. are likely to push Ether prices to $4,000 by 2024-end.
After the MiCA regulation is passed for European countries, the U.S. and Britain could follow suit and such regulations are likely to have a positive impact on investor interest and volatility.
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