The crypto currency may reach $8,000 over the next two years as it becomes more widely used in blockchain-based covenants known as “smart contracts,” as well as gaming and the “tokenisation” of traditional assets

Ether, the world’s second-biggest crypto currency, may increase more than five-fold in value by the end of 2026, according to global bank Standard Chartered, its latest forecast of surging crypto currency prices.

The crypto currency may reach $8,000 over the next two years as it becomes more widely used in blockchain-based covenants known as “smart contracts,” as well as gaming and the “tokenisation” of traditional assets, StanChart Head of FX Research, West, Geoff Kendrick stated.

Ether was trading on Wednesday at around $1,575.

Assessing the value of crypto currencies is fraught with difficulty, as tokens such as ether or bitcoin that are not supported by conventional assets lack the gauges used to price stocks, bonds or currencies. The price of crypto tokens are usually driven by the sentiment of investors.

We see the $8,000 level as a stepping stone to our long-term ‘structural’ valuation projection of $26,000-$35,000, added Kendrick, who also heads the bank’s digital assets research.

That valuation assumes future use cases and revenue streams that may not have come up yet, although the real-world use cases of gaming and tokenisation should support their development.

Kendrick told Reuters that the structural valuation projection was “very long term, say 2040.”

Ether has added around 30 per cent in 2023, though remains nearly 70 per cent below its all-time high of nearly $4,869, reached in November 2021.

StanChart said in July that top crypto token bitcoin could reach $50,000 in 2023 and $120,000 by the end of next year. Bitcoin was last changing hands at nearly $27,275.