Bitcoin was previously estimated to end this year at $100k. However, analysts from Standard Chartered have raised the yearly target to $150,000. Interestingly, they had previously increased the target to $120,000, considering the approval of the Bitcoin ETF. The current estimate comes with an assumption that the inflow to the ETF must continue and stay strong in the remaining months of 2024.
A comparison to Gold has been drawn by them, stating that Gold prices grew exponentially when its ETF was launched. The only exception in this case is that the Bitcoin market is expected to grow faster this year, paving the way for the milestone of $250,000 in 2025. Geoff Kendrick and Suki Cooper stated that a more rapid pass-through from ETF inflows has upticked the estimate for the token.
Bitcoin ETF was approved by the US Securities & Exchange Commission, also known as SEC, on January 10, 2024. They allow eleven applications to proceed with their product investment, enabling traditional investors to trade BTC without directly exposing themselves to the token. The demand and the price have only been with an upward trajectory on the graph since then. While the future is little known to everyone amid extreme volatility, bullish sentiments are stronger with Bitcoin as the token is poised to soar higher in the future.
BTC was last listed on the board at $64,456.85, with a slip of 5.48% in the last 24 hours when writing this article. Bitcoin had previously achieved an ATH of $70,000. The token has now retraced to a low of $65,000. A support level has been defined at $50,000, or $55,000. Dropping below that margin could take BTC back to $40,000. That is unlikely, for Bitcoin Halving is around the corner with a historical context of pushing the price up sooner or later.
Bitcoin Halving will cut rewards to miners and effectively drop the supply. Accumulation by BlackRock and MicroStrategy makes it evident that Bitcoin has a long-term vision of fetching profits for investors. BlackRock is currently leading the charge for ETF inflow, and MicroStrategy has expressed its commitment to continuing to accumulate the token.
If anything, whales are accumulating other tokens, such as ETH and LINK.
The downward slope in price allows them to have more tokens in the portfolio, later selling them to take profits home. While BTC and ETH could serve the purpose shortly, LINK is positioned to remain in their wallets for a longer time. LINK has barely expressed signs of climbing the ladder on the trading board. However, the long-term vision will look stronger when BTC and ETH register a rise.
Standard Chartered has selectively identified Bitcoin to work well; however, other tokens could similarly dance to the tunes when the time comes. This is not investment advice for any crypto token, and it is still ideal to conduct research and formulate strategies for risk assessment.
Source: https://www.cryptonewsz.com/standard-chartered-estimates-bitcoin-to-hit-150k-this-year/