Standard Chartered is urging investors to look through near-term volatility in digital assets and focus on what it calls “quality” blockchain projects.
The remark comes as the recent selloff reshapes relative value across the crypto market.
Standard Chartered Backs Ethereum and Solana for Long-Term Outperformance Despite Near-Term Volatility
Geoff Kendrick, the bank’s Head of FX and Digital Assets Research, said he is actively accumulating during the downturn. According to the analyst, the pullback is a defining moment for long-term positioning.
“I am a buyer of this dip in digital assets,” Kendrick told BeInCrypto in an email. “What’s more, I think this is the start of greater differentiation in digital asset performance, whereby quality projects win.”
Within that framework, Standard Chartered continues to favor Ethereum and Solana as its top layer-1 exposures. Kendrick reiterated that view explicitly, adding:
“I have previously highlighted my view that Ethereum is one such quality project. And here I do the same for Solana. Buy quality.”
Recently, Standard Chartered said it saw Ethereum outperforming Bitcoin, citing DeFi dominance, scalability upgrades, and regulatory clarity.
The bank, however, has tempered its near-term expectations for Solana. Standard Chartered lowered its end-2026 price forecast for SOL to $250 from $310. On this, they cite the time required for the network’s next major use case to mature.
“We lower our end-2026 price forecast to USD 250, as Solana’s next dominant use case may take time,” Kendrick said.
Despite that cut, the bank raised its longer-dated projections, arguing that Solana’s structural advantages remain intact.
Solana’s Shift from Meme Coins to Micropayments Could Drive Long-Term Outperformance
According to Standard Chartered, Solana’s ultra-low-cost, high-throughput architecture positions it to eventually dominate micropayments. This, Kendrick says, is particularly true as AI-driven applications and stablecoin-based transactions gain traction.
“We raise our forecasts thereafter, as we see Solana eventually dominating the micropayments space,” Kendrick noted.
If that thesis plays out, the bank expects SOL to outperform Bitcoin between 2027 and 2030, while only gradually catching up to Ethereum as the ecosystem scales.
The report highlights a subtle but important shift underway on Solana’s decentralized exchanges. While the network has long been associated with meme coin activity, flows are increasingly rotating toward SOL-stablecoin trading pairs.
These stablecoins, Standard Chartered notes, are turning over two to three times faster than their Ethereum counterparts.
That evolution could help Solana shed its “meme coin discount,” which previously weighed on valuation and deterred TradFi participants.
Analysts Back Standard Chartered’s Quality Wins Narrative
Market commentators broadly echoed the bank’s “quality wins” narrative. Investor Mike Alfred described the drawdown as a textbook risk-off move.
“…this is a run-of-the-mill risk-off move where the lowest quality goes down the hardest, and then everything bounces… This is when real money is made,” wrote Alfred, referencing the recent market drop.
Developer and investor Mike Ippolito struck a similar tone, arguing that sentiment has swung too far in the negative direction.
“I think people are far too bearish ETH and SOL today,” he said, calling layer-1 blockchains “the Amazon or Google of our time” due to their global markets, high barriers to entry, and fee-generating potential.
Standard Chartered expects Solana to underperform Ethereum through 2026 and into 2027. But beyond that window, the bank sees a catch-up phase driven by scale, utility, and cost advantages.
In Kendrick’s view, the current volatility is less a warning sign than a sorting mechanism, one that may ultimately reward investors willing to buy quality while the market is still unsettled.
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