Bitcoin Target at $100k 2024
Standard Chartered, the multinational banking and financial services company, has predicted that Bitcoin could hit $100,000 by the end of 2024. The bank’s head of digital assets research, Geoff Kendrick, said in a note that the cryptocurrency is benefiting from recent turbulence in the banking sector, the stabilisation of risk assets as the US Federal Reserve ends its interest rate-hiking cycle, and improved profitability of crypto mining.
“While sources of uncertainty remain, we think the pathway to the USD 100,000 level is becoming clearer,” Kendrick wrote. Standard Chartered’s bullish outlook comes as Bitcoin has rallied this year, reaching above $30,000 in April for the first time in ten months. The gains represent a partial recovery after trillions of dollars were wiped from the crypto sector in 2022 due to central banks hiking rates and a string of crypto firms imploding.
Predictions of sky-high valuations have been common during Bitcoin’s past rallies. In November 2020, a Citi analyst said that Bitcoin could climb as high as $318,000 by the end of 2022. However, the cryptocurrency closed last year down about 65% at $16,500.
Standard Chartered’s note states that Bitcoin has benefited from its status as a “branded safe haven, a perceived relative store of value and a means of remittance.” Kendrick also noted that 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 (Rank#5), another major financial institution, also recently made positive comments about Bitcoin’s future. In a note on April 5, the bank said that a technical change to the Bitcoin blockchain in April 2024, known as its “halving,” could boost its price by making it more expensive to produce, causing a “positive psychological effect.” JPMorgan also said that cryptocurrency prices have already benefited from crypto enthusiasts interpreting the recent US banking crisis as a “vindication of the crypto ecosystem.” Crypto supporters say stablecoins are “less susceptible to runs,” the bank said.
While cryptocurrency prices have been known to be volatile, with high highs and low lows, it seems that major financial institutions are now taking a more positive view of Bitcoin’s future. As more governments and institutions regulate the industry and investor confidence grows, we may see a more stable cryptocurrency market, and even higher prices for Bitcoin in the future.
