Bitcoin (BTC) has experienced a significant decline over the past two months and has recently been trading in a narrow range.
Before October, the market generally expected Bitcoin to reach $150,000 or higher by the end of the year, but as the year-end approaches, various predictions have started to lower expectations one by one.
Investment banking giant has significantly lowered its multi-year price target
At this time, British banking giant Standard Chartered has also significantly lowered its multi-year price target for Bitcoin.
According to Decrypt, Standard Chartered's head of digital asset research, Geoff Kendrick, explained that the downgrade in predictions is not due to structural weaknesses in Bitcoin, but due to recent weakening in purchasing power.
Kendrick pointed out that institutional buying has entered the final stage recently, and it is unlikely to continue increasing Bitcoin holdings.
He stated that Bitcoin's upward momentum will increasingly rely on ETF capital inflows.
"The DAT companies (referring to digital asset trust institutions) that previously supported Bitcoin demand are unlikely to increase their Bitcoin holdings. While they are not likely to sell off in large quantities, they will also not support the market through additional purchases. Therefore, the only force supporting BTC prices in the future will be ETFs."
Comprehensive revision of the forecast timeline
Kendrick stated that based on these reasons, Standard Chartered updated its end-of-year price forecasts for 2025-2030:
· The time for Bitcoin to reach the long-term target of $500,000 has been postponed from 2028 to 2030
· The end-of-year price forecast for 2025 has been lowered from $200,000 to $100,000
The revised new timeline is as follows:
End of 2025: $100,000
End of 2026: $150,000
End of 2027: $225,000
End of 2028: $300,000
End of 2029: $400,000
End of 2030: $500,000
Recently, bull leader Tom Lee also revised his Bitcoin forecast, abandoning the previous end-of-year target of $250,000, and now believes Bitcoin "may break $100,000 by the end of the year and set a new historical high."
Has the "crypto winter" become a thing of the past?
Kendrick recently expressed his views on the narrative of the crypto winter/bear market, believing that the halving cycle's dominance over prices has failed.
"Bitcoin's recent high occurred about 18 months after the April 2024 halving, raising concerns about a 'crypto winter,' but we believe the halving cycle no longer dominates prices. This time is truly different—we believe the crypto winter has become history. In the medium to long term, the long-term demand based on ETFs will reshape the market landscape."
