Standard Chartered Bank has repeatedly predicted that cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and SOL, will reach unprecedented highs in 2025 by 2024.

However, in a research report released yesterday (17th), Standard Chartered Bank stated that Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, is currently experiencing a structural decline, and the bank has significantly lowered its year-end forecast for ETH from $10,000 to $4,000.

Ethereum's Structural Decline to Continue

In the report, Standard Chartered Bank's Head of Digital Assets Research, Geoff Kendrick, pointed out that Ethereum is currently at a crossroads, and although it still dominates many indicators in the blockchain, this dominance is gradually diminishing.

Geoff Kendrick further stated that Ethereum's proud Layer2 network, originally intended to improve Ethereum's scalability, has now caused Ethereum's market capitalization to shrink by $50 billion, with just the Base chain, Coinbase's Layer2 network.

To stop this trend from continuing, Standard Chartered Bank suggests that the Ethereum Foundation may need to change its business direction, such as imposing taxes on Layer2. Additionally, if the tokenization market can experience significant growth, Ethereum may be able to occupy around 80% of this field with its security, which could provide some support for Ethereum.

Bitfinex: Bitcoin May Be in a Long-Term Consolidation

Regarding the future performance of Bitcoin, Bitfinex exchange also released a report yesterday (17th), stating that Bitcoin's pullback from January 20th to last week's low of $77,041 was the second-deepest downward adjustment in this bull market. Although previous cycles have shown that a 30% correction is common, given the demand brought by institutional investors and ETFs in this cycle, the significant pullback may indicate that the market is different from the past.

Bitfinex further pointed out that from multiple perspectives, Bitcoin may enter a long-term consolidation phase or even face the risk of further decline:

• Weakening institutional demand: The continuous outflow of funds from Bitcoin spot ETFs indicates that institutional buyers have limited ability to absorb selling pressure;
• Selling pressure from short-term holders: Short-term holders are currently in a state of unrealized losses and are very likely to capitulate, which will further bring selling pressure to the market;
• If long-term holders and institutions cannot continue to absorb market supply or even exit their investments, it may exacerbate the downside risk;
• The economic outlook in the United States is at a crossroads, with uncertainties, and without good economic fundamentals as support, Bitcoin may also find it difficult to regain upward momentum.

As of the editorial deadline, Bit is reporting at $83,051, down 0.27% in the last 24 hours, while ETH continues to challenge the $1,900 mark, up 0.21% in the last 24 hours.