Strategy’s bitcoin sale may mark start of ether outperformance, StanChart’s Kendrick says ETH could outperform BTC by 40% from current levels as bitcoin treasuries may sell assets to cover obligations, the bank’s digital asset research head said.
What to know: – Ether may outperform bitcoin following Strategy’s recent BTC sale, Standard Chartered’s head of digital asset research, Geoffrey Kendrick says. – Ether treasury firms can generate staking income and may not need to sell assets to fund operations, unlike bitcoin treasuries. – Kendrick sees the ETH-BTC ratio rising to 0.04 by year-end, suggesting a more than 40% outperformance from current levels
Strategy’s (MSTR) first bitcoin In a note to clients, Kendrick pointed out that ether (ETH) significantly outperformed bitcoin Among sessions when bitcoin declined, the move ranked among the largest ETH-versus-BTC gains since the start of 2024, he noted. “I see [Monday] as being the start of ETH outperformance versus BTC,” Kendrick wrote. The call comes as investors continue debating whether ether can regain momentum after lagging behind bitcoin for much of the past two years. Since September 2022, when the Ethereum network transitioned from a mining-centric proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake model, ETH has depreciated 66% versus BTC, reaching a five-year low in April 2025.
That downtrend, however, has shown signs of shifting, as ETH has bounced more than 60% from the lows over the past year. Kendrick, who has a long-term ETH price target of $4,000 by the end of 2026 and $40,000 by 2030, said he expects the ETH-BTC ratio to climb to 0.04 by year-end from around 0.028 currently, implying ether would outperform bitcoin by more than 40% even if both assets move higher or lower. This isn’t the first time Kendrick has forecasted ETH outperforming bitcoin.