Ethereum to Outperform Solana in 2025, According to Standard Chartered

• Standard Chartered expects Ethereum to surpass Solana by 2025, backed by stronger long-term fundamentals and steady upgrades.
• Solana’s deep link to memecoins may limit its future gains, as market confidence in the sector shrinks.

Standard Chartered has predicted that Ethereum will outperform Solana by the end of 2025, despite both digital assets showing signs of growth. The investment bank states that Ethereum’s long-term potential remains stronger, with Solana’s reliance on memecoins being seen as a weakness. Ethereum is expected to maintain its lead as Solana faces slowing momentum in key revenue areas.

Standard Chartered Predicts Stronger Growth for Ethereum

Standard Chartered, a major international bank, has projected that Ethereum will likely outperform Solana by the end of 2025. Geoff Kendrick, who leads FX and Digital Assets Research at the bank, explained the reasons behind this view in a statement released May 27, 2025.

According to Kendrick, Ethereum could reach $4,000 by the end of 2025 and get to $7,500 by 2029. MarketCap data shows that Ethereum is trading at $2,657.05, up 4.47%. This shows the wide margin from the projected reach.

In contrast, Solana is expected to hit $275 by the end of 2025 and grow to around $500 by 2029. As of writing, the SOL price was trading at $177.04, up by 0.51%. While this forecast still represents growth for Solana, it lags behind what the analysts believe Ethereum can soar to.

One of the reasons for this gap is Solana’s connection to memecoins. Kendrick described this link as a double-edged sword. Memecoins may bring attention and short-term volume, but the long-term value is uncertain. He warned that the market is already applying a discount to Solana’s future earnings.

Additionally, an earlier news story by CNF covered that Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, warned that 99% of Solana meme coins would fail. With the update, he cautioned investors about their speculative nature and the risk of pump-and-dump schemes.

Some market participants believe the recent network update is another primary reason for Ethereum’s projected outperformance of Solana. As noted earlier, Ethereum’s recent Pectra upgrade launch brought about several developments to the network. 

Even though our earlier report shows that scammers have threatened the upgrade, the developers advised authorizing EIP-7702 only through official wallet apps and plugins.

Memecoin Market Seen as a Risk to Solana’s Future

It is worth noting that the reliance on memecoins is a key reason why Standard Chartered believes Solana will not match Ethereum in the long run. Memecoins helped push Solana’s performance during recent bull rallies, especially in late 2024 and early 2025. 

The market cap for memecoins peaked at $100 billion in December 2024, with Solana-based memecoins reaching their highest levels in January 2025.

However, Kendrick noted that this period may have marked the peak for memecoin activity. He suggested that the enthusiasm behind them is starting to cool off, which could hurt Solana’s activity and revenue going forward. He stated that the memecoin trend is now less reliable as a value driver. 

Based on market sentiment, the recent devastating Libra memecoin scandal has also depleted market confidence in the memecoin Industry. Market participants and institutional investors are moving toward assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum. In January, we covered that World Liberty Financial purchased 14,403 Ethereum worth $48 million.

Meanwhile, Ark Invest’s CEO, Cathie Wood, also voiced concern. While she still believes in the long-term potential of Solana and Ethereum, she said most memecoins will likely end up worthless.

This concern adds to the view that Ethereum’s broader range of applications and less dependence on volatile assets may continue to make it the leader among major digital currencies.