Standard Chartered sharply upgraded its outlook for ether, forecasting the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency will reach $7,500 by the end of 2025, up from a previous estimate of $4,000. The lender now sees the token climbing to $25,000 by 2028 versus an earlier $7,500 projection, according to a note by Geoff Kendrick, head of digital assets research. The revision follows faster-than-expected institutional demand. Spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds recorded more than $500 million of net inflows on 12 Aug alone, while corporate treasuries have been steadily adding the asset. Standard Chartered estimates funds and treasuries could hold as much as 10% of all ether in circulation within three years. Kendrick said the recently enacted U.S. GENIUS Act, which establishes a regulatory regime for dollar-pegged stablecoins, could expand the stablecoin market eightfold by 2028, boosting transaction fees on the Ethereum network and underpinning token value. Planned scaling upgrades are expected to increase Layer-1 capacity and attract higher-value transfers tied to traditional finance. Ether traded near $4,700 on Wednesday, less than 4% below its November 2021 record high, after rallying more than 50% in the past four weeks. Beyond the headline targets, Standard Chartered projects prices of about $12,000 in 2026 and $18,000 in 2027, arguing that a positive feedback loop between price, on-chain activity and investor inflows could allow the asset to outperform bitcoin over the next 18 months.