Standard Chartered believes Bitcoin will be at $100k by 2024 – Cryptopolitan
Standard Chartered, the British multinational bank, has predicted that the value of Bitcoin could reach $100,000 by the end of 2024. The bank’s head of digital asset research, Geoff Kendrick, said the “crypto winter” was over.
He added that the digital asset could benefit from several factors, including the recent turbulence in the banking sector, the stabilization of risk assets as the US Federal Reserve ends its rate hike cycle, and improved profitability in crypto mining.
Kendrick believes that while sources of uncertainty remain, the path to the $100,000 level is becoming clearer.
Bitcoin’s rocky history
Bitcoin has had a rocky history, with several peaks and troughs. However, it has enjoyed a resurgence in 2023, rising above $30,000 in April for the first time in ten months.
This rise has come after the crypto sector suffered losses of trillions of dollars in 2022, when central banks raised interest rates, and several crypto firms went bankrupt.
Despite this, predictions of skyrocketing valuations for Bitcoin have been common during the previous 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 about 65% to $16,500.
Bitcoin’s value has been affected by several factors in recent months. The digital asset is trading at around $27,300, down over 10% in the past week.
The decline in BTC erased Bitcoin’s early April gains above $30,000, moving below last month’s close of around $28,500.
Other leading cryptocurrencies also fell over the past week, with the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, down double digits for the week.
A strengthening US dollar drove the decline, and the US central bank was expected to raise the benchmark interest rate by a further quarter of a basis point at the upcoming policy rate meeting in May.
Bitcoin and gold
In recent months, Bitcoin has had a stronger correlation with gold than with stock market indices, according to data from the Valkyrie Fund. This correlation has grown stronger since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which triggered fears of bank failure.
Another factor reportedly brewing in the US economy is the debt ceiling crisis. The US Treasury has historic amounts of debt, and the debt exceeds the debt limit of $31.4 trillion, with about $31.46 trillion already borrowed.
While several factors affect Bitcoin’s value, many investors are optimistic about the future of the digital asset. A repeating price fractal suggests that the recent retracement could set the stage for a massive cryptocurrency bull run.
The conclusion of the 2018 hash rate wars saw Bitcoin’s price crash from roughly $6,000 to $3,000. This sudden drop formed a local bottom for BTC, which was followed by 107 days of consolidation.
This consolidation ended on April 1, when the Bitcoin price shot up and formed a bullish divergence on the daily chart. The setup was followed by a 173% rally over the next two months, pushing BTC to form a local high at $13,880.
In 2023, a similar setup has formed, indicating that the ongoing roll-up is likely to lead to a similar outlook. While a 173% rally is unlikely, investors can expect the Bitcoin price to push deeper into the weekly Bearish Breaker range, extending from $29,247 to $41,273.
