In a recent report, British banking giant Standard Chartered's head of digital assets research, Geoff Kendrick, has declared that the crypto winter, which began in 2022, is officially over.
Kendrick
has also shared his estimations that Bitcoin (BTC), the leading
cryptocurrency by market cap, could reach $100,000 by the end of 2024.
- The
Standard Bank analyst pointed out that the factors to trigger a massive
increase in BTC price include the recent U.S. banking crisis causing
investors to lose confidence in the traditional financial system.
- The
banking turmoil started in March, with the consecutive collapses of
crypto-friendly Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), and
Signature Bank within just a week.
- The report implied that this crisis could lead to the stabilization of risk assets.
- BTC has increased over 80% in value since the beginning of 2023 and surpassed the $30,000 barrier in early April for the first time since June 2022.
- However, the leading cryptocurrency started showing a downward trend again, with its price retreating to the $27,000 level.
- The popular digital currency is still down nearly 60% from its all-time high in November 2021.
- Predictions
of sky-high valuations for Bitcoin have gained massive popularity in
recent years, though they mostly do not come to fruition.
- In
November 2020, a Citibank analyst estimated that Bitcoin could reach
$318,000 by the end of 2022, and the leading cryptocurrency closed last
year at $16,500.
- Robert
Kiyosaki, the famous author of the best-selling personal finance book
“Rich Dad, Poor Dad," also recently shared his predictions that the BTC
price could see the $100,000 level.