Standard Chartered’s Bold Forecast: Bitcoin To Rise To $150,000 This Year

British multinational bank Standard Chartered has upped its Bitcoin price prediction target for end-2024 to $150,000 from the previous estimate of $100,000.

BTC To Hit $150,000 By End-2024

Standard Chartered has projected that by the end of this year, the benchmark crypto Bitcoin may succeed in hitting the $150,000 threshold, up from the previous $100K.

Standard Chartered analysts said last year that Bitcoin could reach $100K in 2024. By July, they had revised their forecast to predict a $120,000 price tag for the same timeframe.

The bank based its analysis for the new $150,000 target on the comparison with the price of gold after U.S. gold exchange-traded funds launched and the correlation between ETF inflows and the price of Bitcoin.

“For 2024, given the sharper-than-expected price gains year-to-date, we now see potential for the BTC price to reach the $150,000 level by year-end, up from our previous estimate of $100,000,” Standard Chartered Bank analysts led by Geoffrey Kendrick said in a March 18 report.

When gold ETFs hit the market, the price of the precious metal surged as new investors gained access to the market. Although gold prices climbed gradually as investors invested money into the ETF product, Standard Chartered contends that the BTC market “will mature much faster.”

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in mid-January after a decade of denials. The BTC investment vehicles then began trading the next day, and have since seen blockbuster success.

As for higher peaks, the bank’s analysts “see a good chance of an overshoot to the $250,000 level at some stage in 2025” if BTC ETF inflows hit their mid-point estimate of $75 billion and/or if forex reserve managers begin purchasing Bitcoin.

“We think the gold analogy — in terms of both ETF impact and the optimal portfolio mix — remains a good starting point for estimating the ‘correct’ BTC price level medium-term,” the report explained.

Is Spot Ether ETF Approval On The Cards?

Standard Chartered also suggested that the SEC could give the approval stamp to spot ether (ETH) ETF later this spring, which will lead to inflows of $45 billion in the first year and ETH smashing the $8,000 level by the end of the year. 

Ether is currently priced at $3,508.55 after dropping 3.5% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. The second-largest crypto hit an all-time high of $4,878 in November 2021.

Notably, Standard Chartered analysts also think the price of ETH will reach $14,000 in 2025 as Bitcoin soars to $250,000.

That being said, there is little chance of spot ETH ETFs being greenlighted this year, as the Securities and Exchange Commission faces heightened political pressure not to allow ETFs for other crypto assets beyond Bitcoin.