Standard Chartered Maintains $100,000 Bitcoin Target for Year-End

Standard Chartered is sticking with its call for Bitcoin to reach $100,000 by the end of 2026, even as the cryptocurrency has recently traded sideways in the $60,000 to $70,000 range.

Jeff Kendrick, the bank’s global head of digital assets research, maintained that year-end target in a report, The Block reported on July 10. He called Bitcoin’s current price a “screaming buy” and wrote that the recent correction does not signal damage to the longer-term trend.

Kendrick attributed the latest weakness in Bitcoin to a change in Strategy’s approach. He wrote that the company had moved away from its previous stance of never selling Bitcoin and shifted toward using the token as a credit-enhancement tool for its preferred stock. But the strategy was not explained clearly enough to the market, he said, weighing on short-term sentiment.

Strategy sold 3,588 Bitcoin for about $216 million last week. The company plans to use the proceeds to fund preferred dividend payments and strengthen reserves.

If the strategy change is communicated properly, Kendrick wrote, Strategy’s preferred stock price could recover and the need for additional Bitcoin sales would decline.

Still, some market participants are concerned the shift in Strategy’s approach could add to Bitcoin’s volatility. JPMorgan said the company’s role as both a buyer and seller of Bitcoin could create unnecessary two-way risk for the digital-asset market.