May 2025 – Standard Chartered, one of the UK's leading financial institutions, has initiated coverage on Solana ($SOL ), projecting a significant upward trajectory for the cryptocurrency. In a recent report led by Geoff Kendrick, Head of Digital Assets Research, the bank forecasts that SOL could rise to $275 by the end of 2025 and reach $500 by 2029. These projections represent a potential price appreciation of approximately 54% to 180% from its current level of $178.50.
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Valuation and Market Outlook
According to the report, Solana currently trades at a discounted valuation based on its market capitalization relative to blockchain "GDP"—defined as application revenue generated by Solana-based projects. This contrasts with Binance Coin (BNB), which the report suggests is overvalued due to its close association with the Binance exchange.
> “Solana trades ‘cheap’ on market cap-to-GDP, unlike BNB, which trades ‘rich’ due to its Binance link,” Kendrick stated.
Despite this positive long-term outlook, Standard Chartered anticipates that Solana will underperform Ethereum (ETH) over the next two to three years. The bank expects the ETH-to-SOL price ratio to widen from approximately 14:1 today to 17:1 by 2027, indicating Ethereum's continued dominance in the medium term.
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Challenges and Growth Drivers
While Solana has gained popularity as a platform for memecoin trading, Standard Chartered notes that this activity may have reached its peak. The report highlights concerns about Solana’s current low usage levels, particularly in the face of declining memecoin activity.
> “Declining usage and trading ‘cheap’ are not a good mix,” the report cautions.
Nonetheless, the bank sees significant long-term growth potential for Solana in sectors requiring high throughput and scalability. These include decentralized financial services, social media platforms, and decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN). Although these sectors are still in the early stages of development, they are seen as important future value drivers for the Solana ecosystem.
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Network Improvements and Competitive Landscape
Solana has faced notable challenges in terms of network outages and security vulnerabilities. However, the implementation of key upgrades—including the Firedancer validator client and advanced network tools—is expected to enhance reliability and performance.
In comparison, Ethereum continues to benefit from greater decentralization, more robust developer support, and a higher total value locked (TVL) across decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.
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Conclusion
Standard Chartered’s coverage of Solana outlines a cautiously optimistic view of its long-term potential. While short-term challenges—including low usage and reduced memecoin activity—may lead to underperformance relative to Ethereum, the bank believes Solana is well-positioned to benefit from future innovations in high-throughput blockchain applications. Investors may see substantial gains over a multi-year horizon, provided the network continues to improve and adoption accelerates in emerging sectors.
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