Ethereum's (ETH) Outlook Just Took a Major Hit

Standard Chartered (STAN) has cut its 2025 year-end price target for Ether from $10,000 to just $4,000, citing structural decline in the market.

Standard Chartered has slashed its year-end price target for Ether (CRYPTO: ETH) from $10,000 to just $4,000, a major adjustment to the bank’s outlook on the cryptocurrency.

According to CoinDesk, the bank's analysts have slashed their price target for 2025. They still see a price recovery from current levels, but they expect Ethereum to underperform compared to Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC).

The analysts explained that the change in outlook stems from the structural decline in the market, adding that they believe this downward trend will continue unless the Ethereum Foundation makes a dramatic shift—such as taxing Layer 2 networks.

"The fabric of Ethereum’s dominance is being unraveled by the meteoric rise of Layer 2 networks, offering parallel chains capable of executing smart contracts and scaling transactions at a fraction of the cost and time compared to the main Ethereum network," the analysts stated.

Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) has emerged as a key player in this shift, with its Base network reportedly shaving $50 billion off Ether's market cap. As Coinbase's user base migrates to Base, the activity on the Ethereum chain is set to decrease further, they warned.

"While this narrative has unfolded, we observe that the activity on the Ethereum network is becoming weaker, and the total value locked in DeFi protocols is also declining," the analysts noted.

According to the latest data from CoinShares, over the past month, Ethereum-based investment products have seen outflows totaling $265 million, marking the worst streak since 2015.

Moreover, Ethereum's total value locked has dropped by 47% since January, hitting just $46.37 billion at the time of writing. Leading protocols like Lido, EigenLayer, and Maker have seen sharp declines in deposits, making investors question whether Ethereum can maintain its DeFi dominance.

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