Geoffrey Kendrick from Standard Chartered has revised his $120,000 bitcoin price target, deeming it potentially too low. His earlier prediction, set for the second quarter of 2025, was based on predicted strategic asset reallocations. With bitcoin nearing $100,000 again, Kendrick notes changing market dynamics, significant institutional inflows, and increasing interest from major investors.
Geoffrey Kendrick, head of digital assets at Standard Chartered, has had a bit of a change in heart regarding his bitcoin price prediction. Initially, he forecasted that bitcoin would hit $120,000 by the second quarter of 2025. However, on Thursday, he candidly expressed that this target might actually be on the low side. “I apologise that my USD 120k Q2 target may be too low,” Kendrick jokingly noted in an email to clients.
Last month, Kendrick had detailed his optimistic view, suggesting that bitcoin could surge on the basis of strategic asset shifts away from U.S. investments and significant accumulation by wealthy investors, or ‘whales’. He confidently stated that these factors would push bitcoin to a new all-time high around USD 120,000 by Q2, with a further year-end forecast ballooning to an eye-popping USD 200,000.
However, Kendrick’s latest comments indicate that the dynamics surrounding bitcoin are evolving once again. He remarked, “The dominant story for Bitcoin has changed again,” noting a shift from its correlation with risk assets to a behaviour influenced by new capital flows into the market. “It is now all about flows. And flows are coming in many forms,” he added, signalling a more complex market landscape than before.
As bitcoin nears that significant $100,000 milestone, it has recently been trading upwards, sitting at about $99,293.54, according to Coin Metrics. At one point, the cryptocurrency even peaked at $99,897.00, stirring excitement among investors.
Over the years, the trend has shown bitcoin mirroring risk asset performance, especially U.S. tech stocks. The premise is that with more institutional capital flowing into bitcoin, it becomes more susceptible to market risks that typically influence equities. Kendrick has been particularly bullish on bitcoin, noting that in just the past three weeks, U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen substantial inflows totalling around $5.3 billion.
Citing specific examples, Kendrick pointed out that several high-profile investors have recently begun diversifying their portfolios with bitcoin. Notably, software giant MicroStrategy has significantly increased its bitcoin purchases, while the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund has taken a stake in BlackRock’s IBIT bitcoin ETF. Similarly, the Swiss National Bank has invested in MicroStrategy shares, often viewed as a proxy for bitcoin in the market.
