Standard Chartered increased its year-end ether forecast to $7,500 from $4,000 on Wednesday. The bank cited stronger industry engagement and rising ether holdings in recent months. The new target is nearly 60% higher than ether’s three-and-a-half-year high of $4,700 reached on Wednesday.
Ether has gained more than 50% in the past four weeks. The rally followed the passage of the Genius Act, which established a regulatory framework for U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins. Other cryptocurrencies also rose on expectations of broader acceptance under the new law.
Geoff Kendrick, head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, said the bank expects the stablecoin sector to expand eightfold by the end of 2028. He noted that such growth would significantly increase transaction fee revenue on the Ethereum network, as most stablecoins operate on Ethereum.
Kendrick added that Ethereum’s long-term growth depends on using its Layer 1 blockchain for high-value transactions, particularly in traditional finance. He said a substantial boost to Layer 1’s capacity would support this goal.
Standard Chartered also raised its 2028 ether price forecast to $25,000 from $7,500. Kendrick projected that Ethereum treasury companies could hold as much as 10% of all ether in circulation.
On August 13, 2025, Ethereum is trading at 4,662.5 United States dollars on the four-hour chart from the Bitstamp exchange. The chart shows a clear breakout from a falling wedge pattern, which is a bullish technical formation that occurs when price action narrows between downward-sloping resistance and support lines before breaking upward. This breakout has driven Ethereum’s value up by approximately 27 percent from its recent low, demonstrating strong buying momentum.
The price currently sits well above the fifty-period exponential moving average, which is at 4,165.4 United States dollars, showing that the medium-term trend remains firmly upward. Volume activity supports the rally, with noticeable increases during upward moves, reflecting heightened trader participation. Based on the measured move projection from the height of the wedge, Ethereum has potential for an additional increase of around 16 percent from the current price, targeting the 5,470 United States dollars level in the near term. The combination of pattern breakout, sustained momentum, and supportive volume signals a continuation of the bullish trend unless there is a sharp reversal in market sentiment.
