• Cryptopolitan
  • Posts
  • 👀 Standard Chartered goes big on Ethereum

👀 Standard Chartered goes big on Ethereum

Standard Chartered sees ETH at $40K by 2030. PLUS: Bitmine doubles down on ETH treasuries, the Fed cools rate-cut hopes, Saylor buys $1.25B in BTC, XRP quietly outperforms, and prediction markets face scrutiny.

Author

Cryptopolitan News
January 13, 2026 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Ethereum has just received its most tangible endorsement yet.

Standard Chartered has lifted its long-term price target for ETH to $40,000 by 2030- pointing to strong tailwinds such as institutional interest, DeFi growth and pending U.S. crypto regulation.

  • 📈 2026 target: $7,500

  • 📈 2029 target: $30,000

  • 📈 2030 target: $40,000

❝

Despite the weakness from Bitcoin, Ethereum’s fundamentals continue to improve.

Geoff Kendrick, Head of Digital Asset Research (Standard Chartered)

Why so bullish on ETH?

  1. Stablecoin supremacy: Despite it all, Ethereum is still the de facto home of dollar-backed tokens.

  2. Roadmap for scalability: An upcoming upgrade aims to increase Layer-1 throughput by 10x.

  3. Regulatory clarity: Kendrick views the impending vote on the CLARITY Act as an inflection point that could release every bit of pent-up DeFi craze on Ethereum.

🧠 Quick explainer: The CLARITY Act is a bipartisan bill in U.S. Congress that would provide clarity on what crypto assets are commodities vs securities. It’s being reviewed this week.

Bitmine keeps buying

Complementing the bullish trend, Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BNMR), ETH’s biggest treasury company, has just purchased a 24,266ETH worth $76M that will add to their current stash of 4.16 million ETH or equivalent to 3.5% of total supply.

Chairman Tom Lee took it a step further and said:

❝

Ethereum will be the base settlement layer of Wall Street.

He also said one day ETH may soar to $250,000.

Whether it’s a serious call or pure hopium, one thing is clear:

Institutions are doubling down.

POLL: What's your price target of ETH for 2030?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

📊 Market Watch

📈 Fed’s Williams soothes markets, but rate cut odds retreat

Current interest rates are “well positioned” to help generate more jobs and rein in inflation, said the New York Fed chief John Williams.

And while he hinted at eventual cuts, he emphasized patience and said inflation might stay above 2.5% through midyear. More aggressive easing was priced, and now the market sees only a 15% chance of cut in January.

💀 Strategy buys the dip, $1.25B more in BTC

Michael Saylor’s Strategy BUYS 13,627 more Bitcoins for $1.25B, now having doubled their “portfolio” to 687,410 BTC or ~$51.8B. The firm’s stock-based war chest still holds $10B+ in dry powder, ready for more buys.

As Capitol Hill preps for a crypto policy showdown, Saylor’s timing is anything but random.

📊 XRP quietly outperforms Bitcoin

XRP is reportedly decoupling from ETH/BTC, as it could be looking for a technical breakout, analysts believe. But near-term resistance in the $2.35 area continues to be stiff, while strong support is layered at approximately $2.0014.

 đŸ‘€ Are you watching this?

A well-timed $400K wager on Maduro ouster sparks some fresh scrutiny around insider trading at prediction markets.

And when traders on platforms like Polymarket can bet (largely) anonymously on real-world events, something like that hit just hours before news of Trump’s Venezuela strike broke.

That’s triggered calls for regulation. There could soon be a new U.S. law making it illegal for federal officers to gamble on policy-connected contracts if they are privy to inside information. Kalshi supports the move. Polymarket is an offshore operator, and its business operates in a legal gray area.

Tools like “Insider Finder” now monitor real-time suspicious activity, but enforcement? Still missing.

Poll: Should insider trading regulations apply to prediction markets?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

 đŸĽ Top tweets

💰 YOUR TRADES ARE LEAKING MONEY. 

Every time you see slippage >2%, you're paying an invisible tax. Not to the exchange. To their bad liquidity.

THE SLIPPAGE TEST

Try this right now:

  1. Check your exchange's order book depth 

  2. Look at the spread between bid/ask 

  3. Place a $10K+ market order during volatility If your actual fill price is >2% off the displayed price? Your exchange is running on fumes.

How liquidity aggregation actually works (and why it matters for your trades)

Headline picks by our Editor in Chief

Episode 16 Editor GIF by The Simpsons

Meme of the day

Join the Conversation!

We'd love to hear your thoughts and comments. Join our community and stay updated with the latest trends and discussions in crypto.