Standard Chartered Still Keen on Bitcoin to $200K By Year End, Predicts $135k by End of Q3

Standard Chartered has reaffirmed its bullish price expectation for Bitcoin by the end of 2025, projecting a new target for the year’s third quarter.

The firm released a fresh outlook for Bitcoin for the second half of the year, following a lower-than-expected 14.67% uptick in the first six months of 2025. Geoffrey Kendrick, the $1.1 trillion bank’s head of digital asset research, projected a stellar end to the year and highlighted possible catalysts for this run.

Bitcoin Up for a Bullish H2

Bitcoin broke a new all-time high of $112,000 in May but missed Standard Chartered’s $120,000 target by the end of Q2. Nonetheless, it remains keen on a surge to new price discoveries for the premier asset.

Kendrick told clients on Wednesday that Bitcoin would hit $135,000 by the end of the year’s third quarter, a 25% uptick from its current price. He mentioned that the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) inflow and Bitcoin accumulation by corporate treasury firms would drive this rally.

Data shows that ETFs bought 118,424 BTC in H1, while public firms purchased over two times that number, amassing 245,510 BTC. Kendrick insisted that these numbers would continue to rise in Q3 and Q4, taking Bitcoin’s price with it.

Furthermore, the analysis suggested that policy shifts in the United States would also drive the expected uptrend. Rumors are circulating that Donald Trump wants to remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and Standard Chartered believes that his early retirement, along with the subsequent quantitative easing, would increase the appetite for risk assets, favoring Bitcoin.

Moreover, other policies, such as the House’s passage of the GENIUS stablecoin bill, are also a strong catalyst. The legislation has already received a nod from the US Senate and would become law pending approval from the House and the president.

Bitcoin’s Four-Year Cycle Defiance and $200k by Year End

For context, Bitcoin has had four years in a cycle, comprising a year of massive correction and three years of recovery and uptrend to new highs. Kendrick argued that BTC has outgrown this adolescent structure and would continue rising after the 18-month bullish phase expected to end between September and October.

He highlighted the end of this market dynamic amid near-mainstream adoption and expects the market to brush off these cycle concerns with a late-year price upsurge. Essentially, the analyst predicted a price rise to $200,000 before the end of the year.

Interestingly, this narrative is gaining momentum, with backing from industry leaders. Binance’s CZ and Michael Saylor expect the same, and the latter stated in clear words that the Bitcoin bear market is over.

Meanwhile, brokerage firm Bernstein and asset manager Bitwise also projected that Bitcoin would reach $200,000 before the end of 2025. At the time of writing, BTC trades at $107,835, about 85.4% away from reaching the $200,000 target.