Bitcoin - Standard Bank raises its target by 50%

The success of Bitcoin ETFs prompts Standard Chartered Bank to raise its year-end price forecast.

Bitcoin at $250,000 or even more

Standard Chartered Bank has raised its Bitcoin price forecast target to $150,000 from a previously envisioned $100,000.

This new target is justified by the continued influx of capital into ETFs launched in the United States in January. The ETFs from BlackRock and Fidelity are in the top 5 of the ETF ranking by volume recorded since the beginning of the year.

JUST IN: Blackrock and Fidelity Bitcoin ETFs are now both in the TOP 5 ETFs by YTD flows.$IBIT $FBTC pic.twitter.com/jL2GpC3tdC

— Simply Bitcoin (@SimplyBitcoinTV) March 18, 2024

“For 2024, given the greater-than-expected rise in bitcoin since the start of the year, we now estimate that the price of bitcoin could reach $150,000 by the end of the year. That’s 50% more than our previous estimate of $100,000”, state analysts at Standard Chartered Bank in a report published this Monday.

“Most of the incoming flows will likely be sticky flows such as pension funds”, it reads. In other words, the bubble might not burst as it did last time, when FTX’s collapse triggered a retreat of more than 70%…

For the end of the year 2025, Standard Chartered Bank maintains its target of $200,000.

These targets are based on a parallel with the impact of ETFs on gold in the 90s. And also on the anticipation that traditional investment portfolios will replace 20% of their gold allocation with bitcoin.

The $250,000 threshold could even be reached earlier if the ETFs manage to attract $75 billion. So far, ETFs have absorbed more than $15 billion. We are currently on a pace of about $500 million per day.

Standard Chartered also sees bitcoin surpassing its target if “foreign exchange reserve managers” (central banks) were to purchase bitcoins.

“It is increasingly likely that major reserve managers will announce the purchase of BTC in 2024”, they suggest.

Is the time for speculation over? Will bitcoin climb without a hitch to $200,000?