Global financial giant Standard Chartered has revised its forecast for Bitcoin’s price, now foreseeing the flagship digital asset soaring to $150,000 by year-end, citing favorable market conditions.
Earlier in the year, the bank’s head of crypto research, Geoffrey Kendrick, predicted that the BTC price would climb to $100,000 by the end of the year and $200,000 in 2025.
ETFs’ pivotal role
Standard Chartered’s current prediction is based on the parallels between how the introduction of gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US impacted gold prices and a similar correlation between Bitcoin ETF inflows and BTC prices.
According to the bank, if ETF inflows reach an estimated $75 billion or if reserve managers start accumulating BTC, there’s a strong possibility of the flagship digital asset price surpassing the $250,000 mark at some point in 2025.
Since their introduction in January, spot BTC ETFs have seen heightened trading activities that have propelled Bitcoin’s price to unprecedented highs. The new investment vehicles have accumulated over $12 billion in net inflows.
Moreover, Standard Chartered also foresees Ethereum reaching heights of up to $8,000 if the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) greenlights spot Ether ETFs. The bank noted that approval could trigger inflows of up to $45 billion within 12 months.
Over the past weeks, speculations have been rife about the potential impact of an Ethereum ETF. However, the possibility of approval by May is low, considering the regulatory ambiguity surrounding ETH and the SEC’s silence.
As of press time, ETH was trading for $3,512, according to CryptoSlate’s data.
Binance CEO shares optimism
Similarly, Binance’s new CEO, Richard Teng, reportedly holds a bullish view of the crypto market, predicting that BTC’s price would surpass $80,000 by year-end.
Teng explained that the top digital asset is witnessing an increasing demand thanks to the Bitcoin ETFs, coinciding with a diminishing supply base that the impending Halving event would further impact.
