Standard Chartered Analyst Apologizes: $120K Bitcoin Target May Be 'Too Conservative'
Geoffrey Kendrick, Head of Digital Assets at Standard Chartered, is rethinking his bullish bitcoin forecast — not because he was too optimistic, but because he was too conservative. “I apologise that my USD120k Q2 target may be too low,” Kendrick said Thursday in an email to clients. Just last month, he projected a new all-time high by mid-year, driven by “a strategic asset reallocation away from US assets” and accumulation by “whales” (large holders). However, with bitcoin now hovering near $100,000 and surging more than 3% on the day to $99,293.54, Kendrick admits the rally has moved faster than expected.
Institutional Money Pours In: $5.3 Billion into Bitcoin ETFs in Three Weeks
Kendrick noted that the dominant narrative for bitcoin has shifted. “It was correlation to risk assets… It then became a way to position for strategic asset reallocation out of US assets. It is now all about flows — and flows are coming in many forms.” According to his data, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs attracted $5.3 billion in net inflows over the past three weeks. This level of activity signals surging institutional interest, further strengthening bitcoin’s new role as a macro asset in global portfolios.
Sovereign Funds and Central Banks Enter the Scene: Bitcoin’s Macro Asset Status Solidified
Kendrick highlighted several heavyweight examples to support his revised stance: Strategy ramping up bitcoin buys; the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund holding BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF (IBIT); and the Swiss National Bank reportedly holding shares of MSTR, often seen as a leveraged proxy for bitcoin. Previously, bitcoin was often lumped in with high-risk U.S. tech stocks. But with the current wave of institutional adoption, Kendrick believes bitcoin has taken on a new narrative — one that could carry it well beyond the $120,000 mark this summer.
New Narrative Driving Bitcoin: $120K Just a Stepping Stone?
Kendrick had earlier said, “We expect these supportive factors to push BTC to a fresh all-time high around USD 120,000 in Q2.” Now, with BTC nearing six figures, that milestone might just be a stepping stone. He maintains his year-end forecast of $200,000, arguing that the combination of institutional flows, sovereign fund participation, and macro asset transformation could push prices significantly above $120,000 during the summer rally.