Standard Chartered analysts say 2026 will be the year of Ethereum (ETH 2.70%). Its team thinks the popular smart-contract crypto could outperform Bitcoin (BTC 2.53%) this year. It set a bullish $40,000 price target for the end of 2030, suggesting an upside of around 1,100%. As I write this (Jan. 13), Ethereum is trading at around $3,300.
It is a big jump, but it wouldn't be an impossible one. If stablecoins, real-world asset tokenization, and decentralized finance grow at the levels some predict, the amount of funds on the Ethereum blockchain could snowball. Historically, there's a strong correlation between total value locked (TVL) and Ethereum's price.
Becoming an Ethereum millionaire
Ethereum often gets overshadowed by Bitcoin in investment terms. Where Bitcoin grew over 125% in the past two years, Ethereum has only gained 33%. There's over $120 billion in spot Bitcoin ETFs due to strong institutional demand, while spot Ethereum ETFs contain just $18 billion, per Coinglass data.
Even so, it's still the second-biggest crypto by market cap and it dominates the decentralized finance industry. Even more striking? It has huge growth potential that doesn't seem to be priced in. Citigroup estimates that stablecoin issuance alone could grow from around $280 billion today to between $1.9 trillion and $4 trillion.
Given that Ethereum currently accounts for just over 50% of the stablecoin market, per DefiLlama, it's fair to say that it will capture some of that market. Ethereum currently has $75.32 billion in funds in its ecosystem. If even $950 billion in stablecoins were issued on its blockchain, that would increase its TVL by over 1,100%. And that's before we consider similar growth in real-world asset tokenization.
These figures show Ethereum's potential, but its success is far from a slam dunk. That's partly because some traditional finance players are developing their own blockchains, so they may not use any public cryptos at all. Plus, while Ethereum is extremely reliable, it struggles with transaction speeds and scalability. That represents an opportunity for Ethereum's competitors, including Solana, which could also eat into its market share.
Using crypto to retire a millionaire is risky
Crypto has made some millionaires, but it is extremely volatile and the industry is still relatively young. There's a lot of uncertainty about how it will evolve. Even if Standard Chartered's predictions come true and Ethereum soars 1,100% in four years, you'd need to have over $90,000 worth of Ethereum today for it to make you a millionaire.
Moreover, investing in high-risk assets like cryptocurrencies isn't generally viewed as a solid way to build wealth for retirement, particularly if your crypto holdings aren't balanced out by less risky assets. Many millionaires got there by making steady long-term contributions to a diversified portfolio held in a tax-advantaged account.
Ethereum could certainly help you retire with a considerable nest egg, depending on your investment strategy, timeline, and risk tolerance. Just make sure you manage your exposure so that a prolonged price slump won't derail your retirement plans.
