Standard Chartered, a multinational banking and financial services company, predicts that Bitcoin could reach $100,000 by the end of 2024. Despite the turbulence of the past two years, the bank's head of digital assets research, Geoff Kendrick, believes that the so-called "crypto winter" is over and that factors such as the stabilisation of risk assets, the end of the US Federal Reserve's rate-hiking cycle, and the improved profitability of crypto mining could lead to Bitcoin's gains.
"While sources of uncertainty remain, we think the pathway to the USD 100,000 level is becoming clearer," Kendrick wrote in a note.
Bitcoin's value has increased significantly this year, surging above $30,000 in April for the first time in ten months. This represents a partial recovery after trillions of dollars were wiped from the crypto sector in 2022, due to central banks hiking interest rates and several crypto firms imploding.
Standard Chartered's prediction is not the first to speculate about the potential value of Bitcoin. In November 2020, a Citi analyst predicted that Bitcoin could climb as high as $318,000 by the end of 2022. However, Bitcoin closed last year down by about 65% at $16,500.
The future of Bitcoin remains uncertain, but Kendrick's prediction is a positive outlook for investors and may lead to renewed interest in the cryptocurrency.
