Bitcoin to $100,000 in 2024? Here’s Why Major Bank’s Analysts Are Bullish on BTC

Key highlights:

• Analysts from Standard Chartered are doubling down on their prediction that Bitcoin will hit $100,000 by the end of 2024.
• The analysts say the expected approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States will allow large amounts of capital to flow into Bitcoin. They also highlighted the next Bitcoin halving in 2024, which will tighten Bitcoin’s supply growth.
• We could see the Bitcoin price hit six figures much earlier than expected.

For years, analysts and investors have debated when or if Bitcoin will hit the $100,000 milestone. Now, analysts from a major global bank are doubling down on their prediction that 2024 will be the year Bitcoin blasts through six figures.

Standard Chartered makes bold forecast

Standard Chartered is no small player. As one of the largest banks in the world by assets, its analysts don’t make bullish calls lightly. Yet that’s exactly what Geoff Kendrick and his team of researchers at Standard Chartered have done – not once, but twice.

Back in April, Kendrick first made waves by forecasting Bitcoin would hit $100,000 by the end of 2024. Just a few months later in July, the analyst reaffirmed his stance, pointing to decreased miner selling pressure and the impending block reward halving as tailwinds.

Now in November, Kendrick is doubling down yet again. In a note to clients last week, he wrote “Everything is working as expected” and stood by the end of 2024 $100,000 price target. According to Kendrick, two emerging trends will supercharge Bitcoin’s ascent – growing institutional interest fueled by ETF approvals in early 2024.

Spot Bitcoin ETF approval decision deadlines. Image source: Bloomberg

The catalysts fueling $100K Bitcoin

Kendrick and the Standard Chartered team have honed in on a pair of factors they believe will send Bitcoin skyrocketing. First is the long-awaited approval of physical Bitcoin ETFs in the United States. For years, the crypto community has eagerly awaited these investment vehicles, which some believe will open the floodgates and allow large amounts of capital to flow into Bitcoin. 

Second, and happening roughly on the same timeline, is the next Bitcoin halving in April 2024. Every four years, the reward given to miners for validating transactions is cut in half. This decreases new supply entering the market and tightens the asset’s stock-to-flow ratio – a metric Kendrick and others argue portends big gains.

Logarithmic Bitcoin price chart with market halving dates. Image source: CoinCodex via TradingView

Taken together, Standard Chartered analysts think these events could catalyze a surge of fresh investment unlike anything crypto has seen before. More ETF inflows meet decreasing miner supply in a potentially perfect storm that drives Bitcoin’s price across the $100,000 mark.

Major bank lending credence where others doubt

Of course, Kendrick and the team aren’t the only analysts eyeing $100K Bitcoin. Other prognosticators like Novogratz have floated the figure. But it’s significant that views now come from inside the traditional financial industry as well.

Major global banks like Standard Chartered carrying Bitcoin’s water lends credence in a way individual traders alone cannot. When giants with trillion-dollar balance sheets start making big crypto bets publicly, it sends a powerful signal. As Kendrick said, right now “everything is working as expected” – even ahead of schedule.

Whether Bitcoin ultimately reaches six figures in 2024 as Standard Chartered anticipates remains to be seen. As with any investment, past performance doesn’t guarantee future results. But with growing optimism from both the crypto and traditional finance worlds, it’s clear $100,000 is fast becoming a question of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’.

In the months ahead, Bitcoin investors will watch keenly for signs that Kendrick’s forecast could become reality a full year sooner than anticipated. If 2024 does unfold as the analysts foresee, it sets the stage for the crypto of the decade – and then some.

But those following along for the long haul also know that while timing is impossible, adoption marches on regardless of price. At today’s value of around $38,000 after a stellar 12-month gain of over 120%, Bitcoin remains a speculative, yet promising store of value.