Standard Chartered: Strategy’s Bitcoin Sale Could Signal Start of Ether Outperformance

Standard Chartered analyst Geoffrey Kendrick said Strategy’s recent sale of 32 Bitcoin may mark the start of a period in which Ethereum (ETH) outperforms BTC, pointing to ETH’s resilience while Bitcoin slid in the days after the disclosure.

“I see [Monday] as being the start of ETH outperformance versus BTC,” Kendrick stated, framing the call around the relative strength Ether showed as Bitcoin fell back below US$66,000 (AU$92,400).

Related: Strategy’s Surprise Bitcoin Sale Throws $20M Polymarket Bet Into Chaos

A View on the Ratio

Kendrick expects the ETH-BTC ratio, a gauge of ETH’s price relative to Bitcoin, to climb to 0.04 by the end of 2026 from around 0.028. That shift would imply ETH outperforming Bitcoin by more than 40%, he argued, regardless of whether both assets move higher or lower together.

The view should be read as the analyst’s own assessment rather than a guaranteed outcome. Kendrick maintained longer-term ETH price targets of US$4,000 (AU$5,600) by the end of 2026 and US$40,000 (AU$56,000) by the end of 2030, citing ETH’s expanding role in stablecoins, tokenised real-world assets and decentralised finance activity.

Central to the thesis is a structural contrast between corporate treasuries built on the two assets. Kendrick argued that Bitcoin treasury companies may be forced to sell holdings to cover expenses, as Strategy’s disclosure illustrated, while Ether treasury firms can stake their tokens for roughly 3% annualised yield, generating income without liquidating assets.

That distinction matters because forced selling by large holders can weigh on price during downturns. Strategy’s 32 BTC sale was negligible against its reported 843,706 BTC, worth roughly US$58 billion (AU$81.2 billion), but Kendrick framed the move as a signal: even the most committed corporate Bitcoin holder had reasons to part with coins, whereas a yield-bearing asset gives treasuries an alternative to selling.

Kendrick has previously compared ETH’s position to Amazon’s during the 2001 dot-com downturn, contending that Ethereum’s underlying network metrics keep improving even when its price lags. 

Read more: JPMorgan: Bitcoin, Gold ‘Debasement Trade’ Losing Steam as ETF Outflows Rise

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