Standard Chartered executive: Bitcoin will hit $200,000 by the end of 2025 as demand continues to ou

Kendrick believes that multiple catalysts will drive Bitcoin demand to unprecedented levels, leading to a two-year rally.

Kendrick expressed this view in an interview with CNBC on February 29. He said that both macro and fundamental indicators indicate that Bitcoin will experience a sustained rally.

Standard Chartered made similar predictions before the Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) was approved. At the time, the bank said the ETF’s approval was critical for Bitcoin to rise to $200,000.

New high before halving

With the halving less than two months away, Kendrick said increased demand for Bitcoin will likely result in the cryptocurrency hitting new all-time highs ahead of the halving. He also predicted that Bitcoin will reach $100,000 by the end of the year as the halving will further reduce the supply.

The halving event, which cuts the reward for mining new Bitcoins in half, is expected to reduce Bitcoin's inflation rate from about 1.7% to about 0.8%. The mining reward per block will drop from the current 6.25 to 3.125.

This will cause the daily supply of Bitcoin to drop from 900 BTC to 450 BTC. Historically, a 50% reduction in new supply has been one of the important drivers of previous rounds of price increases.

Another notable driver behind this bullish outlook is the massive inflows into the launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF in early 2024.

ETFs drive demand

Kendrick pointed out that new Bitcoin ETFs have attracted approximately $14 billion in investment, excluding Grayscale’s outflows, with net inflows of approximately $6 billion. This is roughly equivalent to holding 110,000 new Bitcoins, giving a significant boost to the market’s growth.

These nine newly added ETFs are absorbing Bitcoin at an average rate of 10,000 BTC per day. Although only 900 BTC are produced per day, this means that the demand for Bitcoin is already ten times the supply.

Kendrick also pointed to broader market conditions and potential changes in Federal Reserve policy as also providing support for Bitcoin’s rise. The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates mid-year, and looser monetary policy could benefit risk assets including cryptocurrencies.

Furthermore, he said that the overall growth story line, coupled with optimistic stock market trends, the direct impact of ETF inflows, and the halving event, create a compelling case for Bitcoin’s upward trajectory. #比特币 #ETF