Standard Chartered Cuts SOL Target, Says Flows Left Memecoins

The bank's version of the memecoin obituary

The Block reports that Standard Chartered's head of digital assets research, Geoffrey Kendrick, lowered his 2026 Solana price forecast to $250 from $310 while keeping a long-dated path intact. He described Solana as "no longer a one-trick pony" powered by meme speculation alone, pointing instead at payments.

The mix of flows on DEXs has shifted from memecoin trading towards SOL-stablecoin pairs.

Geoffrey Kendrick, Standard Chartered, via The Block

Kendrick also noted that stablecoins on Solana turn over two to three times faster than on Ethereum, which he reads as an emerging transactional role rather than pure speculation. The catch, per the same note: he expects Solana to underperform Ethereum through 2026 and 2027 before micropayment adoption scales.

1. 2026: $250 (cut from $310)
2. 2027: $400
3. 2028: $700
4. 2029: $1,200
5. 2030: $2,000

Meanwhile, the tape

The forecast arrived into a red screen. CoinDesk reported bitcoin sliding about 5% to around $75,000, ether down roughly 6.5% near $2,200 and SOL off about 5.5% below $100, with AI and software equities dropping in parallel. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan was blunt in a note quoted by CoinDesk: "This is not a 'bull market correction' or 'a dip.'" He added that crypto downturns have historically run about 13 months.

What it means for degens

A sell-side target is not your entry, and "memecoins to micropayments" is a thesis, not a schedule. But the flow claim is checkable and it matters: if the marginal Solana trade is becoming a stablecoin swap instead of a fresh bonding curve, launchpad revenue and meme liquidity thin out together. Trade the book you actually have, not the one in the slide deck.