Ethereum Price Outlook: Ether Hovers at $4,500 Amid Fed Decision, Citi and Standard Chartered Diverge​

​​​Ether news

​Ethereum has been navigating a period of cautious optimism as it trades around the $4,500.00 level in mid-September 2025.

​The cryptocurrency has been closely watching macroeconomic developments, particularly today's US Federal Reserve (Fed) decision on interest rates, which could significantly influence appetite for risk assets like Ether.

​Despite recent volatility, investor sentiment remains relatively upbeat, with analysts split on how far the rally could extend before the end of the year.

​Citi has set a year-end target of $4,300.00, suggesting that current prices may already be running ahead of underlying usage, even though tokenization and stablecoin adoption remain promising drivers of demand.

​Standard Chartered, by contrast, has taken a much more bullish stance, lifting its target to $7,500.00 on expectations of stronger enterprise involvement and rising network activity.

​Institutional interest has been deepening, with The Ether Machine preparing to debut on Nasdaq after securing backing from major players such as Blockchain.com, Kraken, and Pantera Capital. With over 400,000 ETH in reserve, it is poised to become one of the largest public entities with direct exposure to Ethereum, signalling a new wave of mainstream financial participation. Meanwhile, flows into exchange-traded funds and other regulated vehicles continue to be an important source of support for the asset.

​Regulatory developments are also shaping the outlook. In the United Kingdom, the Bank of England (BoE) has proposed limits on how much stablecoin individuals can hold, with caps of £10,000.00 to £20,000.00 per person under discussion. Industry groups argue that such restrictions would slow innovation and undermine the country’s competitiveness in the digital asset sector. At the same time, regulators have taken steps to provide clarity in other areas, such as exempting certain forms of crypto staking from being treated as collective investment schemes, which reduces compliance burdens for participants.

​​Ether bullish case:

​​Ether continues to be supported by its June-to-September uptrend line and Tuesday's $4,426.74 low. While it underpins, immediate upside pressure should persist.

​A rise above the 13 September high at $4,767.66 could possibly lead to the 24 August high at 4,954.16 being reached.

​Ether bearish case:

​Were Ether to slip through its uptrend line and Tuesday's $4,426.74 low, the $4,300.00 region may be revisited.

​Further down sits the major $4,105.53-to-$3,941.08 support area may be revisited. It consists of the March, May and December 2024 as well as the July 2025 highs and as such should act as strong support.

​If not, the 21 July high at $3,858.25 may be retested as well.

​Only a major bearish reversal and fall through the next lower early August low at $3,356.65 would increase the odds of a medium-term top forming, though.

​In this scenario the area between the February-to-June highs at $2,879.45-to-$2,733.27 may be hit.

Ether daily candlestick chart