Standard Chartered’s top cryptocurrency analyst still expects Ether to reach $35,000 despite setbacks
Geoffrey Kendrick, head of crypto research at British banking giant Standard Chartered, says that the price of Ethereum is still capable of reaching a sky-high target of $35,000 in the long term, Business Insider reports.
The leading British investment bank announced the highly optimistic target for the first time last September. Back then, the cryptocurrency market was gearing up to start another major rally after a slight correction.
In September, Kendrick stated that Bitcoin would peak at around $100,000 in early 2022. His prediction was terribly wrong: while Bitcoin did manage to log another all-time high of $69,000 in November, it then started a bearish cycle triggered by macroeconomic factors. At press time, the largest cryptocurrency is trading slightly below the $39,000 level, underperforming together with U.S. stocks.
Standard Chartered’s main crypto researcher points to the fact that institutional money keeps flowing into crypto despite the selloff.
Kendrick says that the price of Ether will likely benefit from the upcoming switch to proof-of-stake. As reported by U.Today, the highly anticipated network upgrade is expected to take place later this year after a series of delays.
The analyst has also singled out Avalanche and Polkadot as the top Ethereum competitors, snubbing Solana.
Last July, one of the units of Standard Chartered announced its plan to establish a cryptocurrency brokerage to capitalize on growing institutional demand for cryptocurrencies.
In October, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters said that crypto was here to stay. He said that it was “perfectly reasonable” for people to invest in non-fiat cryptocurrencies due to central banks experimenting with their monetary policy.