Standard Chartered: $100K Bitcoin Year‑End Call May Be Low

Geoff Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital asset research, wrote in a Friday research note that the bank’s $100,000 year‑end Bitcoin forecast may be too low and that Bitcoin could approach $126,000 before year‑end. He identified Oct. 6 as a date when the recovery could accelerate.

Kendrick attributed the recent rally mainly to short liquidations and recovering inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange‑traded funds. He added that relatively low open interest in derivatives markets could allow more investors to return as prices rise.

“For the first time this year there is now a risk my end year forecast (of USD100k) is too low,” Kendrick wrote.

In a Feb. 12 report Kendrick cut Standard Chartered’s year‑end Bitcoin target to $100,000 from $150,000 and reduced its Ether target to $4,000 from $7,500. At that time he expected Bitcoin could drop to about $50,000 and Ether to roughly $1,400 before recovering later in the year.

Other market participants have offered timing views. Swan Bitcoin chief executive Cory Klippsten has predicted a Bitcoin bottom in October. Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, said a monthly close in August above $63,000 would confirm a bear‑market low.

Bitcoin traded around $76,844 at the time of writing, up roughly 24% over the past week. Kendrick highlighted short covering and renewed ETF demand as the main forces behind the recent price gain.