Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies experienced further weakening on Wednesday, although the multi-day correction across the crypto market appeared to be slowing down. Nonetheless, the bullish outlook for digital assets persists, with one bank forecasting that Bitcoin prices could still soar to $150,000 by the end of this year.
Over the past 24 hours, the price of Bitcoin has declined by less than 1%, reaching $63,200. The largest digital asset saw its deepest recent trough at $60,828. Bitcoin surged to an all-time high above $73,000 last week, surpassing the previous peak near $69,000 from November 2021. However, prices have retreated amid weakening risk sentiment, volatile trading conditions, and indications of profit-taking.
Alex Kuptsikevich, an analyst at broker FxPro, noted, “The crypto market correction continues… although there have been some signs of stabilization.” He highlighted that technically, Bitcoin remains in a downtrend, characterized by a series of lower lows and lower highs. Kuptsikevich pointed out key support levels to monitor, including $60,300 (correction to 61.8% of the last rally), the $56,000 area (representing the 50-day average and 50% level), and $51,500 (a consolidation area observed in February).
Despite recent declines, Bitcoin has registered a 50% gain since the beginning of the year, primarily driven by the introduction of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) approved by U.S. regulators in January. These ETFs have sparked a fresh wave of investor interest in cryptocurrencies and have accumulated record net inflows since their launch. As these funds purchase and hold Bitcoin itself, they exert a significant and sustainable impact on token prices.
Geoff Kendrick, an analyst at U.K. bank Standard Chartered, emphasized the significant impact of rapid inflows into new Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) since their launch on January 11. In a note on Monday, Kendrick highlighted that these inflows have surpassed increases in open interest for Bitcoin futures, which are commonly used for leveraged speculation. This suggests that while open interest levels are approaching stretched levels observed in 2021, overall positioning should be more sustainable this time around.
Standard Chartered is notably bullish on Bitcoin, as evidenced by its decision to raise its 2024 price target for Bitcoin to $150,000 from $100,000 on Monday. Kendrick attributed this upward revision to the faster pass-through from ETF inflows to the Bitcoin price observed thus far.
The bank supports its optimistic outlook for Bitcoin with multiple analyses. Firstly, it draws parallels between Bitcoin and gold prices following the launch of the first gold exchange-traded products in the U.S., projecting that Bitcoin could rise to $200,000 based on this comparison. Secondly, Standard Chartered employs a “two-asset gold and Bitcoin optimization” strategy, indicating that Bitcoin could reach approximately $190,000 when combined with gold in an optimized portfolio. Lastly, by extrapolating the correlation between ETF inflows and the Bitcoin price, the bank suggests a Bitcoin price level around $250,000, assuming total ETF inflows reach its mid-point estimate of $75 billion. Overall, Kendrick concludes that $200,000 is the “correct” end-2025 price level for Bitcoin based on these analyses.
In addition to Bitcoin, Ether—the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap—experienced a 1% decline to $3,230. Meanwhile, smaller tokens or altcoins showed signs of stabilization following a significant selloff on Tuesday, with Cardano down less than 1% while Polygon rebounded by 4%. Memecoins also saw a recovery, with Dogecoin up by 4% and Shiba Inu rising by 1%.