Standard Chartered Boosts Bitcoin Year-End Forecast to $150,000, Anticipates Potential 2025 High of $250,000

By: Eliza Bennet

Standard Chartered, a prominent financial institution, has updated its year-end prediction for Bitcoin, now projecting a potential surge to $150,000 due to favorable market conditions. The bank's head of crypto research had previously anticipated BTC to rocket to $100,000 by the end of the year and attain $200,000 by 2025.

The financial entity's new forecast is underpinned by the correlation seen between the launch of gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US and its impact on gold prices, drawing parallels with Bitcoin ETF inflows and BTC prices. If ETF inflows touch the $75 billion mark or if reserve managers begin stocking up on BTC, the bank indicates a feasible likelihood of Bitcoin breaking the $250,000 barrier in 2025.

Spot BTC ETFs, since their inception, have induced substantial trading activity pushing Bitcoin to groundbreaking highs. Standard Chartered also projectively envisions Ethereum to escalate to around $8,000, given the green light from US Securities and Exchange Commission for spot Ether ETFs. These approvals could stimulate inflows up to $45 billion within a year's span.

Binance's new CEO, Richard Teng, shares the bullish sentiment on the crypto market, prophesizing BTC's price crossing the $80,000 threshold by year-end.