Standard Chartered Calls Ethereum “Undervalued” Despite Its 2025 Price Surge – Here’s Why

Why Does Standard Chartered Believe Ethereum Is Undervalued?

In a research note this week, Standard Chartered’s crypto team highlighted Ethereum’s "fundamental disconnect" from its price action. Despite ETH hitting $5,200 in August 2025 (per CoinMarketCap data), they argue the network’s fee-burning mechanism and staking yield of 4.8% make it "a bond-like asset with growth upside."

"I’ve rarely seen a asset with this much utility trade at a P/S ratio under 20," said lead analyst Geoffrey Kendrick, referencing Ethereum’s $12 billion annualized revenue from gas fees. For context, Amazon traded at a P/S of 60 during its hyper-growth phase.

The Three Pillars of Ethereum’s 2025 Bull Case

With the SEC approving ETH futures ETFs in Q2 2025, institutions now have regulated exposure. BTCC Exchange reported a 200% spike in ETH futures open interest post-approval.

Arbitrum and Optimism now process 60% of ethereum transactions (Dune Analytics), reducing fees to pennies. "It’s like watching Visa-scale throughput emerge," remarked Vitalik Buterin at EthCC Paris.

Since the Merge, ETH’s circulating supply has shrunk by 1.2% annually. At current burn rates, it could overtake Bitcoin’s scarcity by 2028.

How Are Traders Positioning?

Per TradingView data, ETH’s funding rates turned positive in August after months of neutrality—a sign of renewed leverage demand. "We’re seeing whales accumulate ETH below $5,000 like it’s Black Friday," noted BTCC’s head of research, pointing to a 30% increase in wallets holding 10,000+ ETH.

That said, risks remain. Macro analyst Lyn Alden warns: "If the Fed resumes QT in September, crypto could correct alongside tech stocks."

Ethereum vs. Competitors: The Flattening Curve

While Solana and cardano gained market share in 2024, Ethereum’s rollup-centric roadmap is paying off. Developer activity (GitHub commits) still leads by 3:1, and TVL across DeFi protocols sits at $48B—75% of the total (DefiLlama).