The analysts at Standard Chartered now expect Ethereum (ETH) to trade below $4,000 by the end of 2025 due to basic network problems. Based on their analysis the bank’s experts see Layer 2 solutions reducing Ethereum market value by $50 billion and causing this major price target adjustment.

People built Base as a Layer 2 solution to improve Ethereum transactions by speeding up processing and lowering costs. According to their analysis Standard Chartered shows that Ethereum becomes less competitive when new technical solutions separate revenue from the main network. The Base network sends its profits to Coinbase instead of ETH which means less funds returned to Ethereum’s network.

Ethereum Faces Long-Term Struggles

Standard Chartered made both pricing and ETH/BTC ratio forecasts during its analysis. The bank sees the ETH/BTC ratio declining to 0.015 by 2027 which matches the value recorded in 2017. The analysis suggests ETH will stay behind Bitcoin as a better investment option throughout the next few years following current market trends.

Although market participants express worries about Ethereum’s future the platform maintains its leadership in several major industry sectors. Its market influence has been losing ground in these market areas. According to Standard Chartered the ETH Foundation needs to introduce transaction fees or taxes on Layer 2 solutions to prevent further economic loss.

ETH may increase up to $1,900 as Bitcoin shows improvement from current prices but this growth will keep trailing Bitcoin. Ethereum stands to stay behind Bitcoin in short-term development because other blockchains develop faster and deliver better scalability solutions.

Ethereum’s main problem stems from continuous changes in the blockchain industry sector. ETH loses users to other networks such as Solana and Avalanche because they offer quicker processing times at lower transaction costs. ETH will struggle to preserve leadership position unless it handles current network issues.

Ethereum Needs Strategic Action

The slower adoption of Ethereum by institutions takes place because people favor buying Bitcoin over ETH due to its dominant position in cryptocurrency and its growing status as a long-term investment asset. The smart contract features of Ethereum create important business uses but worries about speed and market returns act as barriers for larger companies to join.

Market research shows that ETH can succeed only if its current upgrades work, especially Ethereum 2.0 which needs to perform well so users can get better value. Our experts still need to see if these developmental upgrades will offset the monetary losses and business rivalry that Ethereum faces.

Market analysts changed their Ethereum projection because crypto industry development challenges make the network harder to keep its dominant position. As Layer 2 solutions develop ETH needs to make appropriate strategic decisions to direct its future development. ETH needs to take action now to get back its market position against Bitcoin and other new blockchain networks since unaddressed issues will slow down its performance.