Bitcoin expected to reach $150,000 by year-end, $200,000 by end of 2025: Standard Chartered

Despite widespread warnings from analysts predicting a slump after the halving, Geoff Kendrick, head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, remains optimistic, saying Bitcoin could reach $150,000 by the end of the year and $200,000 by the end of 2025. We’re lowering it to double.

Before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved several spot Bitcoin ETFs, Standard Chartered boldly predicted that the price of Bitcoin would surge fourfold by the end of the year. Kendrick reaffirmed this optimistic prediction in a recent interview with Bloomberg BNN.

Explaining the reason for the notable rise, the analyst pointed to the growth of the US ETF market. According to him, inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs could increase from the current $12 billion to between $50 billion and $100 billion.

His forecast is based in part on the historic growth of the gold market since the introduction of gold ETFs in the United States in 2004. When the gold ETF market matured, the price of gold rose approximately 4.3 times. Kendrick noted that a similar trajectory could happen for Bitcoin if the cryptocurrency ETF market matures in a similar way, potentially within 18 to 24 months.

Analysts expect demand for Bitcoin to increase over time as it becomes a more accepted and accessible investment, potentially pushing the price into its target range.

He suggested that investors eventually allocate 80% of their portfolios to gold and 20% to Bitcoin. If gold prices move sideways, this portfolio distribution could push Bitcoin to $150,000-$200,000.

“In terms of the portfolio between Bitcoin and gold, we need to get to about 80% gold and 20% Bitcoin, and that would take us to $150,000 to $200,000 in Bitcoin terms, even if the gold price goes sideways again. “Kendrick said.

Kendrick also believes that significant institutional investment could not only push the price of Bitcoin higher, but also stabilize it, reducing the likelihood of sharp declines seen in past cycles.

“In the medium term, if we hit $200,000 due to institutional flows, it’s much more likely that Bitcoin won’t have the big retracement it had in previous cycles,” Kendrick added.

Despite stalling after the fourth halving due to slowing ETF inflows and conflict in the Middle East, the price of Bitcoin is still up more than 55% year-to-date. It’s currently trading at around $66,000, up 5% over the past week, according to data from CoinGecko.