Standard Chartered Still Sees $100K Bitcoin — But Its Track Record Is Worth Knowing
The bank calls BTC a "screaming buy" near $64,000 and says Strategy's troubles are overblown — but its forecasts have shifted before.
If you’ve been watching your Bitcoin bag slide alongside the market’s shaky mood, one of the world’s biggest banks wants you to know it’s still betting big on a recovery. Standard Chartered says it’s sticking with its year-end target of $100,000 for Bitcoin, even as the price sits around $64,000 and plenty of other analysts warn of a drop well below $60,000, according to U.Today.
The bank went further than just repeating an old number. It called Bitcoin a “screaming buy” at current prices — strong language from a traditional finance institution that doesn’t always throw around crypto enthusiasm so freely.
Why Strategy’s stock drama matters to your BTC
Part of the recent market jitters trace back to Strategy, the corporate Bitcoin holder that has become almost synonymous with buying and holding BTC on its balance sheet. Last month, Bitcoin’s price wobbled partly on worries about STRC, a dividend-paying preferred stock the company issued that fell below the $100 mark, according to U.Today. That drop raised questions about whether Strategy could keep raising cash the way it has, which in turn fueled speculation it might need to sell some of its Bitcoin holdings.
For everyday holders, that matters because Strategy is one of the largest corporate owners of Bitcoin, and any sign it might be forced to unload coins tends to spook the wider market. Standard Chartered, however, says those fears are overblown. The bank expects Bitcoin to climb back above the $100 level relevant to STRC, which would ease pressure on Strategy and remove the need for additional Bitcoin sales, per the report.
A forecast that keeps moving — here’s the honest history
Before you get too excited about that $100,000 number, it’s worth knowing how often it’s changed. Standard Chartered has a track record of setting ambitious Bitcoin targets that haven’t panned out on schedule, and this is a good moment for some honesty about that pattern.
Back in 2024, the bank raised its year-end forecast as high as $150,000 and predicted the current bull cycle would eventually peak near $250,000 in 2025. When Bitcoin didn’t get there, the bank didn’t back off — it actually doubled down, predicting BTC would hit $200,000 by the end of last year, citing steady ETF inflows and corporate treasury demand as the drivers, according to U.Today.
That $200,000 call didn’t hold up either. As risk appetite cooled, ETF outflows picked up, and hopes for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts faded, Standard Chartered trimmed its target first to $150,000, then down to the current $100,000 for 2026.
What this means for your wallet
None of this means Standard Chartered is wrong about $100,000 — big banks do sometimes get bullish calls right, and the underlying case (ETF demand, corporate treasuries, and hopes that Strategy’s troubles ease) is a real one worth watching. But the repeated downward revisions are a useful reminder that even well-resourced institutional forecasts are educated guesses, not guarantees.
If you’re holding Bitcoin, the practical takeaway isn’t to chase a headline number but to keep an eye on the actual forces behind it — ETF flows, Fed rate decisions, and whether large holders like Strategy stay steady or start selling. Those are the signals that have already moved this forecast twice this year, and they’re likely to keep moving it again before any $100,000 target is confirmed or abandoned.
Read more: Strategy’s Bitcoin-Backed Shares Hit a $10B Trading Record — Even as Prices Cracked
