Standard Charter Expects Bitcoin to Reach $120,000 by End of 2024
Standard Chartered has raised its bitcoin price predictions after seeing increased miner profitability.
The bank now projects the crypto asset to reach a price $50,000 by the end of 2023 — a 65% increase from current prices — and then hit $120,000 by the end of 2024, Bloomberg reported Monday (July 10).
Geoff Kendrick, head of crypto research and EM FX West at Standard Chartered, said, per the report, that increased miner profitability will lead to reduced net bitcoin supply as miners can sell less while maintaining cash inflows.
“Increased miner profitability per BTC mined means they can sell less while maintaining cash inflows, reducing net BTC supply and pushing BTC prices higher,” Kendrick said, according to the report.
Although bitcoin hit all-time highs of nearly $69,000 in 2021, Standard Chartered sees more potential for growth, according to the report.
The bank has raised its forecast for bitcoin from its April expectation that prices would reach $100,000 by the end of next year, the report said.
Because bitcoin miners can cover their costs with the sale of fewer bitcoins when prices are high, they can hold on to more bitcoin in anticipation of selling them later at higher prices, reducing the availability.
This forecast comes at a turbulent time in the cryptocurrency space.
On June 5, it was reported that cryptocurrency prices fell after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed 13 charges against crypto exchange Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao, alleging the exchange committed a variety of securities law violations.
Bitcoin was among those whose price fell at the time time, as it was trading at $25,628 on the afternoon of June 5 after having hit a high of $27,093 earlier that day.
About a week earlier, on May 30, blockchain analytics provider Nansen became the latest company in the beleaguered crypto sector to cut jobs as it reduced its staff by 30%.
The company had been rapidly scaling its staff for years but, as Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik said at the time, the past year has been “brutal” for the crypto sector.
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