Why Standard Chartered sees $2,000 Solana price by 2030 despite lowering its 2026 target
A new research note from Chartered Standard has reignited debate about the long-term future of solariumeven as the bank trims its near-term expectations amid heightened market volatility.
The London-based financial institution has reaffirmed its bullish stance on Solana’s long-term prospects, projecting a potential price of $2,000 by 2030. At the same time, it reduced its price target for the end of 2026 to $250down from a previous estimate of $310, reflecting broader macroeconomic uncertainty and ongoing weakness in digital asset markets.
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The mixed outlook highlights a growing divide between short-term price action and long-term network fundamentals, an increasingly common theme in institutional crypto research.
A revised pricing roadmap for Solana
The updated outlook was published in early February 2026 and was written by Geoffrey KendrickGlobal Head of Digital Asset Research at Standard Chartered. In the report, Kendrick outlined a multi-year price trajectory that assumes continued growth in real-world usage of Solana.
According to the bank’s revised roadmap, Solana could achieve:
$250 by the end of 2026
$400 by the end of 2027
$700 by the end of 2028
$1,200 by the end of 2029
$2,000 by the end of 2030
From current price levels near $97, the 2030 projection implies an increase of nearly 1,900 percent, assuming the network continues to expand its role in payments, stablecoins, and consumer-facing blockchain applications.
Why Standard Chartered maintains your trust in the long term
Despite cutting its short-term forecast, Standard Chartered’s long-term optimism is based on what it describes as Solana’s growing dominance in areas that are most important for mass adoption.
The bank’s analysis emphasizes that Solana is increasingly positioned as a blockchain optimized for everyday financial activity rather than speculative or niche use cases. Its combination of speed, low transaction costs, and scalability has made it attractive for micropayments, stablecoin transfers, and high-volume applications.
In 2025 alone, Solana processed more than $1 trillion in stablecoin transaction volumeaccording to data cited in the report. This figure underscores the network’s ability to handle large streams of value at minimal cost, an area where many competing blockchains struggle due to congestion and high fees.
Transaction speed and network scale
One of Solana’s defining technical advantages remains its performance. The network is theoretically capable of handling up to 65,000 transactions per secondwhile constantly processing between 1000 and 4000 transactions per second under normal conditions.
Recent activity metrics suggest that usage is accelerating. Daily transactions have increased to approximately 109.5 millionmarking a two-year high, while weekly totals have approached billion transactions. For Standard Chartered, these figures indicate sustained demand that goes beyond short-lived advertising cycles.
Important updates that strengthen the network
The bank also pointed to upcoming technical upgrades as a key driver of long-term value. Solana is preparing for the Alpenglow Consensus Updatewhich is expected to launch in early 2026. This update aims to reduce block finality times from approximately 12 seconds to just 150 millisecondsa change that could significantly improve the user experience for real-time applications.
This follows the implementation of the Firedancer validation client, which has already improved network stability and increased validator diversity. Together, these updates are designed to address previous criticisms about reliability while bolstering Solana’s reputation as a high-performing blockchain.
The role of Memecoins, DeFi and ETFs
Standard Chartered also recognized the growing influence of Solana-based memecoins, which now represent an estimated Between 4.7 and 5 billion dollars of the approximate $37.8 billion global memecoin market, based on data from DefiLlama.
While memecoins are often dismissed as speculative, the bank sees their popularity as evidence of user participation and liquidity flowing into the ecosystem. Along with this trend, decentralized exchange activity, stablecoin adoption, and growing interest in potential Solana-centric exchange-traded products contribute to the network’s visibility and relevance.
Why the 2026 target was lowered
Even with strong fundamentals, Standard Chartered lowered its end-2026 price target for Solana. The decision reflects current market conditions rather than a loss of confidence in the network itself.
SOL recently fell below the psychologically important $100 level, trading near $97.30 after a 6 percent drop in 24 hours and extending losses to more than 22 percent over the past week. Compared to its levels at the beginning of 2025, the token has lost more than half its value.
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This downturn reflects broader weakness across the cryptocurrency market, where assets like bitcoin and Ethereum They have also struggled to regain momentum following the market crash in October 2025.
In this context, the bank views the revised 2026 target as a realistic adjustment to macroeconomic volatility rather than a reassessment of Solana’s long-term potential.
Chain activity tells a different story
Despite price weakness, Solana on-chain data continues an upward trend. Daily active addresses recently increased to around 5 millionalmost doubling from levels seen in early January.
Decentralized financial activity also remains strong. The total value locked on Solana-based DeFi platforms is estimated between $7.3 billion and $7.6 billionnear all-time highs. For Standard Chartered, this divergence between price and usage reinforces the argument that Solana’s fundamentals are strengthening even during bearish market phases.
Fundamentals versus market volatility
The bank’s outlook highlights a recurring pattern in crypto markets: short-term price volatility often diverges sharply from underlying network growth.
While technical glitches, risk aversion and macroeconomic uncertainty continue to pressure SOL in the near term, Standard Chartered maintains that Solana’s growing role in payments, stablecoins and high-frequency applications positions it as one of the strongest blockchain bets in the long term.
Even so, the report emphasizes that forecasts are not guarantees. Regulatory developments, competitive pressures and broader market cycles will play a role in determining whether Solana will ultimately be able to meet the bank’s ambitious 2030 goal.
Conclusion
Standard Chartered’s Solana’s revised outlook presents a nuanced picture. In the short term, caution prevails as market volatility weighs on prices. However, in the long term, the bank sees Solana’s real-world adoption, technical upgrades and increasing transaction volumes as the foundation for substantial value creation.
For investors and market watchers, the message is clear: while price swings may dominate the headlines today, the deeper story lies in how effectively blockchain networks like Solana convert usage into sustainable growth over time.
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