Standard Chartered, a prominent British multinational banking and financial services company, has revised its year-end prediction for Bitcoin (BTC), the world's pioneering decentralized cryptocurrency, projecting it could reach $150,000 by the end of 2023. This update from the London-headquartered bank's initial forecast of $100,000 comes in the wake of Bitcoin's recent bullish momentum.
The bank's analysis team, led by Geoffrey Kendrick, has expressed that the cryptocurrency's recent performance has outpaced their expectations. "Given the sharper-than-expected price gains year-to-date, we now see potential for the Bitcoin price to reach the $150,000 level by year-end," the analysts stated in a recent report.
The optimistic outlook doesn't end there; Standard Chartered also highlighted a possible scenario where Bitcoin could escalate to $250,000 by next year. This could become feasible if inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) hit the bank's midpoint forecast of $75 billion or if BTC starts to be acquired by forex reserve managers.
At present, Bitcoin's valuation hovers around $68,000, after having reached a record high of $73,000 earlier this month. Despite a slight dip from this peak, entities like MicroStrategy, a business intelligence organization transitioning into a "Bitcoin development company," continue to bolster their Bitcoin holdings. The company, led by Michael Saylor, recently issued convertible notes worth over a billion dollars in total to fund further Bitcoin acquisitions.
In addition to its bullish stance on Bitcoin, Standard Chartered also predicts a bright future for Ether (ETH), the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network. The analysts believe Ether could reach $8,000 by the end of this year and potentially ascend to $14,000 by 2025, especially if the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) greenlights spot ETH ETFs in May. Currently, Ether's price stands at approximately $3,400.
The SEC's decision-making process on spot Ether ETF applications from industry heavyweights like BlackRock and Fidelity has been extended, with the regulator soliciting public comments. Key issues under consideration include the susceptibility of such trusts and shares to market manipulation.
Despite some reports of internal resistance within the SEC against Ethereum ETFs, there is a semblance of hope in the industry. The optimism is partly fueled by a spot BTC ETF issuer who believes that the approval of spot ETH ETFs by the SEC might materialize by the end of the summer.
