Geoff Kendrick, head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, recently reiterated the bank’s ambitious Bitcoin price target of $150,000 by the end of this year, despite current market volatility and geopolitical tensions. In a comprehensive way interview with BNN Bloomberg, Kendrick highlighted the significant role of ETF flows and upcoming halving events in driving the price of Bitcoin.
Why Bitcoin Is Set for a Rally of $150,000 by the End of the Year
One of the key drivers identified by Kendrick is the notable inflow of capital into Bitcoin ETFs in the United States. Since the creation of these ETFs in early 2024, they have witnessed approximately $12 billion in net inflows. Kendrick highlighted the importance of these developments, stating: “The ETF Inflows in the US have really dominated supply and demand metrics in 2024 so far. That’s huge in terms of ETF performance so far.”
He drew parallels between current Bitcoin trends and the historical performance of gold after the introduction of gold ETFs. Kendrick elaborated on the potential scale of this trend by projecting: “From the beginning of this year until when the U.S. ETF market matures, we will see between $50 and $100 billion in inflow.”
In addition to ETF inflows, the Bitcoin halved event was identified as another crucial factor. This event, which reduces the reward for mining new blocks, thus halving the rate at which new Bitcoins enter circulation, is expected to reduce daily production from 900 BTC to 450 BTC.
While Kendrick mentioned that this halving may be “less important than previous ones,” he still sees it as significant in near-term supply dynamics. He stated: “Obviously, once we have the halving (…), you will only have half the number of new coins, which helps the margin.”
Responding to questions about market skepticism, especially criticism from figures like JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who described Bitcoin as a “Ponzi scheme,” Kendrick offered a defense of Bitcoin’s underlying technology. He argued: “There are a lot of people out there who don’t understand the basic methodology behind Bitcoin. And it’s really this blockchain technology, which is where the value is in the medium term.”
Looking further
Kendrick continued, explaining the transformative potential of blockchain technology not just for financial services, but across industries: “Bitcoin is the first in this. It’s the biggest asset right now, it represents over 50% of the crypto market, but this opens up Ethereum and other use cases, which frankly, in the next five to 10 years, you could easily see a lot of traditional finance going on-chain. ”
Additionally, he addressed recent market volatility, noting that Bitcoin had experienced a significant sell-off just before the halving, with $260 million in leveraged Bitcoin positions being liquidated. The Standard Chartered executive interpreted this as a market correction that could set the stage for healthier growth after the halving, saying: “We had a big drop in Bitcoin. Specifically, on Saturday last weekend, there were $260 million leveraged Bitcoin positions that were liquidated. So the market now looks much more balanced with the halving, if you will, in terms of leverage.”
Summarizing his outlook on Bitcoin’s future trajectory, Kendrick expressed a confident outlook, projecting not just recovery but a robust rise in Bitcoin’s price, driven by both the maturation of the ETF market and continued technological advancements. His vision for Bitcoin until the end of 2025 reaches even beyond the current year’s target, predicting a potential value of $200,000 per coin.
At press time, BTC traded at $66,556.
Featured image created with DALL·E, chart from TradingView.com
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