Bitcoin hits record high, market capitalization rises to fifth in the world! Is Ethereum the next wealth creation myth?

Insights - Standard Chartered Bank expects Ethereum to continue to outperform Bitcoin.

On August 14, Bitcoin (BTC) rose to $124,517, setting a new all-time high.

Currently, the market value of Bitcoin has risen to 2.46 trillion US dollars, surpassing Google's parent company Alphabet and ranking fifth in the world's mainstream asset market value.

[Image source: 8marketcap; global asset ranking]

Other cryptocurrencies also saw broad gains, with Ether (ETH) rising to $4,786, just shy of its all-time high of $4,868.

Since entering the second half of 2025, the price of Ethereum has increased by 92%, far exceeding the 17% increase of Bitcoin.

[Image source: TradingView; Ethereum (ETH) price trend in 2025]

Geoff Kendrick of Standard Chartered Bank said that Ethereum has seen rapid growth recently, but this is just the beginning. He raised his price target for Ethereum by the end of the year from $4,000 to $7,500, and raised his price target for the end of 2028 from $7,500 to $25,000.

Kendrick cited a surge in institutional demand, a favorable regulatory environment, and network upgrades as the main factors driving Ethereum’s price.

1. Surge in institutional demand

Since the beginning of June, Ethereum Reserve and spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have purchased 3.8% of all ETH in circulation, a rate twice as fast as Bitcoin purchases during the same period.

2. Favorable regulatory environment

Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, also received regulatory support from the July passage of the U.S. GENIUS Act, which paved the way for mainstream adoption of stablecoins.

Kendrick noted that more than half of all stablecoins are issued on Ethereum, and these cryptocurrencies already account for 40% of blockchain fees.

3. Network upgrade

Network growth is a major positive. Ethereum developers plan to increase Layer 1 throughput by 10x, paving the way for higher-value transactions and expanding the Layer 2 ecosystem.

Standard Chartered Bank expects Ethereum to continue to outperform Bitcoin, with the ETH/BTC ratio rising to 0.05 from the current 0.039.