Once upon a crypto time, the financial giant Standard Chartered confidently painted a futuristic vision of Bitcoin jumping to $200,000 by the end of 2025.
Fast forward, and reality barged in like a caffeinated bouncer, the bank just chopped its price target to a humbler $100,000. That’s a full halving, and the plot thickens.
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Corporate buying has hit the pause button
Bitcoin’s fourth-quarter stumble knocked the hype off its high horse. Right now, Bitcoin flutters around $90,000, a number less thrilling than a rerun of a 90s sitcom.
The old bull run? Let’s say it lost its steam. Standard Chartered’s analyst Geoffrey Kendrick spells out the drama.
The corporate buying spree by digital asset titans, Strategy, anyone, has hit the pause button.
These corporate crypto treasuries that once piled Bitcoin like a kid hoarding Halloween candy have stopped restocking. So who’s left to keep the party alive?
The baton has passed to ETFs, which investors hoped would swoop in like superhero capital.
Unfortunately, ETF inflows have slowed so much they’re now the financial equivalent of a snail on Ambien.
Current quarterly Bitcoin ETF purchases sit at 50,000 BTC, a far cry from the heady days of late 2024 when up to 450,000 BTC flowed quarterly from ETFs and digital asset treasuries combined.
Quarter-point rate cut
Experts say this slowdown signals that Bitcoin’s price rollercoaster now has fewer riders cheering it on, the market’s left mostly to the ETF crowd, and that’s testing patience.
Add to this mix some serious Fed vibes. The Federal Reserve’s maneuvering affects investors’ appetite for “risk-on” assets like Bitcoin.
There’s chatter that Fed’s upcoming quarter-point rate cut could nudge Bitcoin’s mojo, especially if Kevin Hassett secures a Fed chair role.
That would mean looser money, a glitter bomb for “hard” assets like crypto looking for a safe harbor.
Awaiting the Federal Open Market Committee’s verdict
In a twist that breaks old habits, Kendrick dismisses classic halving cycles as yesterday’s dinner leftovers.
Crypto winters? Over. According to him, the winter chill in crypto-land is done for good, and even prediction markets peg only a 6% chance for a full-on crypto hibernation by early 2026. Which is not a bad news, actually.
Still, Bitcoin’s price remains locked in a tight dance just below $90,000, awaiting the Federal Open Market Committee’s upcoming verdict.
Whatever happens Wednesday, traditional traders and crypto evangelists alike will be watching like it’s the season finale.
Cryptocurrency and Web3 expert, founder of Kriptoworld
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With years of experience covering the blockchain space, András delivers insightful reporting on DeFi, tokenization, altcoins, and crypto regulations shaping the digital economy.
