Bitcoin could top £80,000 by next year, Standard Chartered says

Bitcoin could surge to $100,000, or £80,000, by the end of next year as central bankers ease interest rates and a so-called “crypto winter” thaws, according to analysts Standard Chartered.

The most valuable cryptocurrency could be boosted by factors including recent volatility in the global banking sector, the end of the Fed’s rate-hiking cycle and improved profitability of crypto mining, Standard Chartered’s head of digital assets research Geoff Kendrick said in a note.

“While sources of uncertainty remain, we think the pathway to the $100,000 (£80,000) level is becoming clearer,” Kendrick wrote.

The prediction comes after a rally for Bitcoin at the start of the year, with prices rising above $30,000 (£24,000) in April for the first time in ten months. 

Prices have fallen over 10 per cent in the past week however. Bitcoin is currently trading at $27,290 (£21,888) dollars.

Trillions of dollars were wiped from the market in 2022 after rate hikes triggered a rush back to safer ground and a string of crypto firms imploded.

Predictions of sky-high valuations have been commonplace during bitcoin’s past rallies.  A Citi analyst said in November 2020 that bitcoin could climb as high as $318,000 (£255,055). It closed last year down about 65 per cent at $16,500 (£13,234).

Additional reporting by Reuters