Standard Chartered Expects Bitcoin to Record New High
Global bank Standard Chartered maintains a bullish stance on Bitcoin, pointing to growing interest from corporate treasuries and continued strength in ETF inflows. The bank forecasts that Bitcoin could reach $135,000 by the end of Q3 and potentially surpass $200,000 by year-end, according to a report by Geoff Kendrick, head of digital asset research.
“Thanks to increased investor flows, we believe BTC has moved beyond the previous dynamic whereby prices fell 18 months after a ‘halving’ cycle,” Kendrick noted, referring to a trend that would normally result in declines around September or October 2025.
This latest outlook is consistent with Standard Chartered’s long-term projection that Bitcoin could climb to $500,000 by 2028.
Kendrick analyzed the evolving role of the Bitcoin halving cycle—a pattern traditionally linked to large price surges followed by corrections—as part of his new assessment. Historically, halvings in 2016 and 2020 were followed by price drops 18 months later. However, the 2024 halving is expected to diverge from that pattern due to new factors like robust ETF demand and corporate accumulation
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“We expect prices to resume their uptrend, supported by continued strong ETF and Bitcoin treasury buying,” Kendrick wrote, highlighting that these elements were missing in previous halving cycles.
Despite the optimism, the bank acknowledged that the price could still experience volatility in late Q3 and early Q4 due to lingering concerns from earlier halving-driven corrections.
The comments came just as spot Bitcoin ETFs saw their first outflows after 15 straight days of inflows. Data from SoSoValue revealed $342.3 million in outflows on Tuesday, equivalent to 7% of the $4.8 billion total inflows recorded during the 15-day streak.
Kendrick stated that ETF and treasury-related buying amounted to 245,000 BTC in Q2 and anticipated even higher accumulation levels in the next two quarters.
Sources:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/standard-chartered-bitcoin-price-135000-q3-2025
https://sosovalue.com/assets/etf/us-btc-spot?tid=soso-sm-cnmedia-Wu_news