Bitcoin could hit $100,000 by the end of 2024, according to Standard Chartered

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LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) – The top cryptocurrency bitcoin could hit $100,000 by the end of 2024, Standard Chartered (STAN.L) said on Monday, saying the so-called “winter of the crypto” was finished.

Bitcoin could benefit from factors such as the recent turmoil in the banking sector, a stabilization in risky assets as the US Federal Reserve ends its cycle of interest rate hikes, and improved profitability in mining. crypto, Geoff Kendrick, head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, said in a note. .

“While sources of uncertainty remain, we believe the path to the $100,000 level is becoming clearer,” Kendrick wrote.

Bitcoin has rebounded so far this year, topping $30,000 in April for the first time in ten months. Its gains represent a partial recovery after billions of dollars were wiped out of the crypto sector in 2022, as central banks hiked rates and a series of crypto firms imploded.

Predictions of exorbitant valuations have been commonplace during past bitcoin rallies. A Citi analyst said in November 2020 that bitcoin could climb as high as $318,000 by the end of 2022. It closed last year down around 65% at $16,500.

In Monday’s note, Standard Chartered said bitcoin has benefited from its status as a “branded safe haven, store of perceived relative value and means of transferring funds.”

Kendrick said the European Parliament’s support for the European Union’s first set of rules to regulate crypto asset markets “should provide a tailwind” for bitcoin.

JPMorgan said in an April 5 memo that a technical change to the bitcoin blockchain in April 2024, known as the “halving,” could increase its price by making it more expensive to produce, causing a “psychological effect positive”.

JPMorgan said cryptocurrency prices have already benefited from crypto enthusiasts interpreting the recent US banking crisis as a “crypto ecosystem vindication.” Crypto proponents say stablecoins are “less likely to run,” JPMorgan said.

US regulators have previously asked banks to be mindful of liquidity risks from crypto-related deposits, such as stablecoin reserves, which could be subject to rapid outflows.

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Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; edited by Tom Wilson, Louise Heavens and Jonathan Oatis

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Elizabeth Howcroft

Thomson Reuters

Reports on the intersection of finance and technology, including cryptocurrencies, NFTs, virtual worlds and money that generates “Web3”.

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