A bold forecast from banking giant Standard Chartered has sent ripples through the cryptocurrency market, with the firm dramatically raising its Ethereum price target from $4,000 to $7,500 by year-end—and projecting a staggering $25,000 by 2028. The bank’s analysis suggests both Ethereum itself and companies holding ETH as treasury assets remain substantially undervalued relative to ongoing adoption trends and institutional inflows.
Rather than viewing Ethereum’s recent price pullback from its August all-time high of $4,955 as concerning, analysts describe it as a “favorable entry point” for investors. The ETH/BTC price ratio approaching one-year highs at 0.041 further indicates positive rotation toward Ethereum—like shoppers abandoning the discount rack for the premium section.
Digital asset treasury companies and spot ETFs have been on quite the shopping spree, absorbing nearly 5% of circulating ETH since June 2025. Treasury companies alone have gobbled up 2.6% of supply, with firms like BitMine Immersion targeting an ambitious 5% of total ETH. That’s a faster accumulation rate than Bitcoin treasuries experienced in Q4 2024.
What makes ETH treasuries particularly compelling is their ~3% annual staking yield—a perk Bitcoin treasuries can only dream about. It’s like owning a gold mine that pays dividends while you sleep. This yield, combined with corporate buyback programs, establishes valuation floors for these stocks. The increasing adoption of ETH in corporate treasuries is also being driven by DeFi leverage opportunities that provide additional revenue streams. Unlike traditional finance, Ethereum’s smart contracts automate these financial services without requiring intermediaries like banks.
Despite these advantages, ETH treasury companies trade at lower NAV multiples than their Bitcoin-focused counterparts. This valuation gap persists even as Ethereum ETFs reported a whopping $444 million in inflows during a single day—nearly double what Bitcoin ETF products attracted. Geoffrey Kendrick of Standard Chartered maintains his price target of $7,500 for Ethereum by the end of 2025, citing its continued undervaluation compared to Bitcoin.
Technical analysts see ETH potentially bottoming around $4,300 with rally targets above $5,100. Meanwhile, Wall Street appears to be just waking up to Ethereum’s corporate utility and value proposition, suggesting this might be just the beginning of institutional Ethereum adoption—not unlike the early days of corporate Bitcoin treasuries, but with added yield potential.
