Standard Chartered said in a paper released on Monday that the price of Bitcoin may increase to as much as $100,000 by the end of 2024, signaling the end of the “crypto winter.”

According to Geoff Kendrick, head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, Bitcoin could benefit from recent turmoil in the banking sector, a stabilization of risk assets as the US Federal Reserve ends its interest rate-hiking cycle, and improved profitability of crypto mining.

While the cryptocurrency’s original goal of serving as a hedge against skyrocketing inflation last year was unsuccessful, it recently achieved success by serving as a wager against the traditional banking system.

The Resiliency And Strong Value Of Bitcoin

The crypto’s decentralized features have made it a resilient asset in the face of widespread bank failures. As a matter of fact, the alpha coin was the best performing asset in the first quarter, having gained 70% over the course of the period.

“We see potential for Bitcoin to reach the $100,000 level by end-2024,” Kendrick said in the report, titled “Bitcoin — Pathway to the $100,000 Level.”

Standard Chartered’s chief of digital assets research also said that they think “the much-touted ‘crypto winter’ is finally over” and that the road to the $100,000 territory is becoming “clearer.”

In April, Bitcoin surpassed $30,000 for the first time in 10 months, continuing its upward trend this year. After trillions of dollars were drained from the crypto sector in 2022 due to central banks hiking rates and a spate of crypto companies collapsing, the advances of the biggest crypto signify a partial rebound.

Crypto Miners’ Important Role

The increased profitability of crypto miners could be among factors supporting BTC’s price, as miners are more likely to hang onto their coins rather than sell them if values continue substantially above mining costs.

The most sought-after digital currency has now dropped below $30,000, but Kendrick predicted that miners would hoard their coins if prices remained above $15,000.

The halving in 2024, which will cut the quantity of new coins by half, was also identified as a bullish driver by Standard Chartered.

In light of this, Kendrick said that Bitcoin has profited from its reputation as a brand-named safe haven, a perceived relative store of value, and a viable method of transfer.

Nowhere But Up

Bitcoin optimists argue that the cryptocurrency represents a prudent diversification strategy during economic downturns. Since there will never be more than 21 million Bitcoins in circulation, its value will rise in tandem with the demand for inflation-hedging assets.

During previous Bitcoin rallies, predictions of absurdly high prices were prevalent. In November 2020, a Citi analyst predicted that Bitcoin’s value may reach $318,000 by the end of 2022. Last year, it dropped by roughly 65%, closing at around $16,500.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $28,865, up 2% in the last 24 hours, data from crypto market tracker Coingecko shows.

-Featured image from Zeply