In what is certainly a concerning development for the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, Standard Chartered Bank has dropped its Ethereum (ETH) 2025 price target to just $4,000. Indeed, the move has seen the bank slash the projection by 60%, falling from its previous $10,000.

The bank pointed to several factors, including the growing market share for Base. Moreover, the institution’s analysts have estimated that Base has already removed $50 billion from Etheeum’s market cap. After a concerning start to the year, things don’t look to get much better for ETH.

Also Read: Standard Chartered Provides 5-Year Bitcoin Forecast: See the Target

Ethereum Price Target Cut by 60%, Drops to $4,000 by Standard Chartered Bank

Entering the year, there was no shortage of finance experts who were bullish on the cryptocurrency market. Perhaps chief among them was Standard Chartered. The bank expected big things from the leading asset, Bitcoin. Specifically, they project the token would reach a $500,000 price before US President Donald Trump leaves office in four years.

Since then, the crypto market has struggled. Increased financial uncertainty and geopolitical concern have the asset class stagnating. However, the rise in potentially favorable regulation has seen competition within the industry increase. That may have created a perfect storm to decimate one specific asset. Indeed, Standard Chartered has cut its Ethereum price target for 2025 by 60%, as it now sits at just $4,000.

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Source: CryptoSlate

Also Read: Ethereum ETH Crashes Below $1,800. What’s Next for Ether?

Analysts at the bank cut it from $10,000 and cited several sources, including the increased market share for Base, a layer-2 network. “Layer 2s, and Base in particular, now extract super-profits from the Ethereum ecosystem, Standard Chartered global head of digital asset research, Geoffrey Kendrick, said.

“We estimate that Base (the dominant Layer 2) has removed $50 billion of market cap from Ethereum alone,” he added. Moreover, he noted that Ethereum has “commoditized itself,” in the Layer-2 framework. Specifically, a growing share of transaction fees are now bypassing the layer 1 chain, Kendrick explained

“The solution would be to tax Layer 2 super-profits in the same way governments sometimes charte super taxes for foreign-owned mining companies. Unless that happens, ETH-BTC will keep going down,” Kendrick concluded.

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  • Standard Chartered