‘Crypto winter’ is over – Standard Chartered

The world’s top cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, has the potential to jump to a $100,000 record high next year, Standard Chartered forecast on Monday, claiming the so-called ‘crypto winter’ is over.

According to the UK banking giant’s report, cited by the media, the recent banking-sector crisis has partially helped “re-establish Bitcoin’s use as a decentralized scarce digital asset.”

“The current stress in the traditional banking sector is highly conducive to BTC outperformance...” Standard Chartered analyst Geoff Kendrick wrote in the note, which was seen by CNBC.

“Given these advantages, we think BTC’s share of total digital assets market cap could move into the 50-60% range in the next few months (from around 45% currently),” he argued, adding: “While sources of uncertainty remain, we think the pathway to the USD 100,000 level is becoming clearer.”

After the recent upheaval in the stock market brought about by the US banking crisis, some analysts have suggested that Bitcoin is likely to gain increasing appeal as a “safe haven” for investors.

The price of bitcoin has jumped 65% so far this year, rising to above $30,000 in April for the first time in ten months. The gains followed a 65% plunge in 2022, when nearly $1.4 trillion was wiped off the crypto market amid bankruptcies in the sector. Major crypto exchange FTX and blockchain payment platform Terra crashed, prompting growing regulatory scrutiny on digital assets.

The dramatic sell-off then sparked concerns of a so-called “crypto winter,” reminiscent of the great crypto crash of 2018. Back then, after an unprecedented boom, Bitcoin crashed by more than 80% to as low as $3,100 and didn’t reach a new high until December 2020. The so-called ‘Great crypto crash’ was worse than the Dot-com bubble’s 78% collapse in March 2000.

Economists have been divided in their predictions on the cryptocurrency’s future, with one Citi analyst suggesting in November 2020 that bitcoin could climb as high as $318,000 by the end of 2022. Others, like crypto-skeptic Peter Schiff, have been warning that there is no value in cryptocurrencies and investors should sell their digital assets before they become worthless.

On Tuesday, Bitcoin was trading at $27,423 a token, down 0.1%.

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