According to Standard Chartered on Tuesday, Bitcoin has more than doubled in value this year and is still expected to do so again, reaching $100,000 by the end of the following year.
The note announced that “Crypto spring has sprung” and restated an April prediction by analysts that the top cryptocurrency would hit the six-figure mark by the end of 2024.
In 2023, the price of bitcoin has already increased by 130%, and the optimistic price forecast indicates further gains of over 160%.
According to Standard Chartered head of FX research Geoff Kendrick, ongoing drivers included bitcoin’s continued dominance of the cryptocurrency space and an increase in miners’ hoarding of tokens.
According to him, the price of bitcoin has increased by over $10,000, and its market capitalization has increased from 45% in April to approximately 50% now. Unexpectedly, the bounce has sparked more interest in the cryptocurrency space.
Thus, rather than a sustained increase in BTC dominance within the space, we anticipate that the growing market capitalization of digital assets as a whole will be a greater future driver of BTC price upside, according to Kendrick.
In the meantime, as the price of bitcoin rises, miners tend to hold larger quantities of the token, which is why sales of mined bitcoin dropped to about 80% in the fourth quarter.
Additionally, the upcoming April bitcoin halving—a regular occurrence that lowers the quantity of tokens awarded for mining—will reduce the amount of new supply. Prices usually peak 12–18 months after the event, according to Kendrick.
However, given the growing chance that bitcoin spot ETFs will be permitted for US markets, a positive surprise is also emerging from the demand side, he continued.
Specifically, through the earlier-than-expected launch of US spot ETFs, we now anticipate greater price upside to materialize before the halving than we did previously. This raises the possibility that the USD 100,000 mark may be attained before the end of 2024, according to Kendrick.
This is due to the fact that the SEC’s efforts to impede spot ETFs have encountered several legal setbacks. The ETFs would facilitate access to the cryptocurrency for traditional brokerage accounts, thereby introducing new capital into the bitcoin market.
Given that cryptocurrency is typically a long-term investment, Kendrick added that falling Treasury yields could further propel bitcoin. Since its all-time high of 5.17% last month, the 30-year yield has decreased to 4.60%.
Recently, Bernstein analysts joined the bullish sentiment of Standard Chartered by predicting that bitcoin could reach $150,000 by mid-2025 for comparable supply constraints.
