Standard Chartered Says Bitcoin Could Hit $120,000

Standard Chartered predicts Bitcoin (BTC) reaching $50,000 could encourage miners to accumulate block rewards.

The UK-based bank predicts Bitcoin’s price increase may mean miners need to sell fewer coins to sustain cash flow.

Factors Driving Bull Market: Asia and Halving

This accumulation would take more Bitcoin out of circulation and further jack up the asset’s price.

Earlier this year, several pundits noted that the crypto industry is in the “Great Accumulation,” before a bull run. They predicted Asian traders will drive markets toward bull territory as regulations mature.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has pressured Standard Chartered to open services to crypto businesses in the region. The HKMA’s new regulation allows licensed exchanges to only list a handful of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cardano.

Shortly after, the Korean parliament passed a Virtual Asset User Protection Bill, while the Singapore Monetary Authority recently tabled new proposals for asset custody. And Standard Chartered has partnered with US exchange Coinbase to launch crypto trading in Singapore.

Another factor promoting accumulation is Bitcoin’s halving, which is expected to occur around spring 2024. Once every four years, the Bitcoin miners’ rewards for finding the hash for and broadcasting a Bitcoin block are halved. Next year’s emission rate reduction will cut mining rewards to 3.125 BTC per block.

Accordingly, Standard Chartered predicts that Bitcoin will rise to $120,000 by the end of 2024.

Bitcoin Liquidity Needs to Increase to Sustain Rally

For now, however, Bitcoin is suffering from a sharp falloff in liquidity caused by the exit of two market makers.

Jump Crypto and Jane Street, FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s former employer, recently exited crypto, pulling $10 million worth of BTC liquidity last quarter. Market-makers match buyers and sellers and are crucial for sustaining rallies. Bitcoin’s surge after the US banking crisis in Q1 could not be sustained due to a lack of liquidity.

However, inflows generated by several prominent financial firms could soon change that.

BlackRock, the world’s largest investment manager with over $10 trillion in assets under management, recently filed an amended application with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The SEC initially refused the company’s application due to insufficient market surveillance.

Fidelity Investments has also re-filed an application for a spot ETF following an SEC rebuttal.

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