Standard Chartered: Crypto winter over, Bitcoin target $100K

Standard Chartered’s digital assets research team declared the crypto winter over in a Friday note after Bitcoin dropped to about $59,000 on June 5 and later recovered to roughly $66,500. Geoff Kendrick, the bank’s global head of digital assets research, wrote that the June 5 low marked the cycle trough and that the decline represented a roughly 53% drawdown from Bitcoin’s October peak near $126,000. He wrote, “Winter is over. Welcome back to crypto spring,” and added that he believes the lows in crypto asset prices have now been seen.

The bank set a $100,000 year‑end target for Bitcoin, about 70% above prevailing levels at the time of the note, and said Ether is likely to outperform Bitcoin during the recovery. Kendrick described the recent price action as the entry point investors will later wish they had taken.

Standard Chartered identified three factors that had weighed on prices and are easing. First, a large tokenized offering tied to the SpaceX public listing created a liquidity pull, and the tokenized shares opened strongly on debut, which the note said should reduce forced selling tied to that allocation. Second, developments pointing to de‑escalation in the Iran conflict reduced oil prices and lowered a macro risk premium; oil fell toward $80 a barrel. Third, outflows from Bitcoin exchange‑traded funds that accelerated in mid‑May have begun to reverse. After roughly $5 billion in outflows since mid‑May, BTC ETFs registered about $86 million in inflows on Friday, the largest single‑day inflow in a month, helping Bitcoin reclaim levels above $64,000.

Market activity over the weekend reflected the shift. Bitcoin traded near $66,500, Ether approached $1,780 and Solana moved toward $73. Several major alternative tokens rallied between 10% and 20%. Zcash jumped after a security audit run with an AI model reported no additional vulnerabilities beyond a previously disclosed issue. Protocol events and token distributions also supported trading: Collector Crypto executed an airdrop valued at about $4 million, and Aerodrome rolled out an upgrade that introduced a new incentive for liquidity providers.

The bank cautioned that the developments may take time to fully play out. The note stated the effects of the SpaceX allocation could persist for weeks, that peace negotiations are uncertain, and that ETF flows remain volatile. Kendrick described the current setup as a “genuine change,” while noting the rebound requires confirmation through sustained inflows and continued market behavior.