Standard Chartered’s top analyst, Geoff Kendrick, predicted in a research note released on Monday that Bitcoin would reach $100,000 before the end of 2024. According to the economist, the crypto winter is over, and recent events in the banking sector have proven the importance of the digital asset.
The crypto winter saw Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies crash in 2022, with the alleged “digital gold” falling to a price of $15,000 from $69,000 that year. The digital currency, however, has rebounded in 2023, moving over 60% from $16,000 on January 1 to just over $27,000 at press time after falling from over $31,000 earlier this month.
Is the Crypto Winter Finally Over?
Kendrick noted in the research that the bad actors in the crypto industry that led to the capitulation of the sector had been fished out, and crypto would be back sooner than expected. The market crashed after several prominent crypto firms went bankrupt because they couldn’t survive the harsh realities of the financial sector.
The bankruptcy filings of top crypto firms like FTX and 3AC and the depeg of stablecoin Terra led to massive financial failures among other companies. BlockFi, Genesis, and CoreScientific were all exposed to the capitulation.
Banking Failures Will Help Crypto Adoption
According to Kendrick, the recent banking failures have once again proven the need for decentralized currencies. Major banks in the US have failed in the last three months owing to interest rate hikes and inflation in the economy. The analyst stated that Bitcoin passed the test of the Federal Reserve’s hikes and will benefit from the recent outfall in the traditional banking system.
Kendrick noted that the scarce nature of Bitcoin would make it valuable over time, just like gold. He said that with 19 million bitcoins already mined, the periodic halving would make the digital currency more difficult to acquire.
“While we note that previous halvings have had a successively smaller impact on Bitcoin prices, prices have bounced around each halving,” Kendrick stated.
The scarce nature of the asset would attract more investors, especially institutions, which would drive the price. Kendrick stated that if the adoption keeps increasing as it is now and the market shares get to 50-60% after the halving, Bitcoin’s appeal will rise exponentially, and that will drive its value to $100,000 before the end of 2024.
