🤑 Bitcoin Plunge? Expert Predicts Insane Price Spike! 🚀

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In a rather whimsical chinwag with the folks over at CNBC’s Street Signs, Geoffrey Kendrick, the big cheese of Digital Asset Research at Standard Chartered, took a gander at Bitcoin‘s recent tango with the abyss and spun a yarn about its future that would make a pirate’s eyes water. Kendrick, with a twinkle in his eye, says that despite Bitcoin’s current hissy fit, it’s poised to leap to $200,000 by the time the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve and a whopping $500,000 before President Trump says his final farewell. 🎩

Bitcoin Takes a Tumble? No Sweat!

Kendrick kicked off the chinwag by musing over how the Trump Administration might just be the cherry on top for investors: “So I think the Trump Administration will be a hoot medium term. We all came charging into January 20 with our hopes sky-high, and you could argue we were already floating on a cloud of positivity.”

He then pointed a finger at the post-inauguration regulatory somersault—specifically, the ousting of SAB 121, which he painted as a thorn in the side of financial institutions. Kendrick also chatted about the lack of a much-ballyhooed strategic Bitcoin reserve, which was replaced by a “stockpile” approach. According to Kendrick: “This stockpile lark is just dandy because it gives the thumbs-up to other bigwigs […] here in the US and beyond. Even some of our states are toying with the idea of stashing Bitcoin in their piggy banks.”

But markets, oh dear, they’ve been shaken like a snow globe. Kendrick pointed a finger at the ongoing trade squabbles and geopolitical hotspots: “The shenanigans of late have left risk assets scratching their heads […] one minute it’s tariffs, the next it’s not. Canada, Mexico, the EU […] and then there’s Ukraine and the Middle East, but it’s all smoke and no fire, really. Risk assets, they don’t do uncertainty, you know.”

And within the crypto realm, Kendrick cited the Bybit heist, the Solana meme coin shenanigans, and a generally “baffling” scene as reasons for the retreat. Bitcoin, he said, was caught in the crossfire.

When grilled on whether Bitcoin still shines as a diversifier amidst its cozy relationship with equities, Kendrick took a deep breath and said: “Certainly when we see these dramatic dips like we’ve witnessed lately […] it’s like all the risk assets are holding hands and jumping off a cliff together […] But medium-term, I’d say Bitcoin’s still got some tricks up its sleeve […] It’s there to sprinkle a bit of fairy dust on traditional financial markets, don’t you know.”

Kendrick also tackled the big money exodus from the spot ETFs since Trump’s inauguration: “Even just last week, we saw about $3 billion vanish from ETFs […] We were riding high on about $40 billion of inflows over the first year of those ETFs in the US […] but then, poof! $3 billion up in smoke.”

He reckons that those who snapped up Bitcoin post-election are now “drowning in a sea of red” to the tune of $2 billion in paper losses. This new bunch of Bitcoin buffs, combined with the still-thriving retail crowd, has turned up the heat on volatility: “It’s a bit like trying to hold onto a greased pig when you see these wild swings. Panic selling is the name of the game.”

$200,000 Target? Still in the Bag!

Kendrick also emphasized the need for more big-shot institutional involvement—banks like Standard Chartered and titans like BlackRock—to beef up custody solutions and keep hacks like the Bybit one from making headlines:

“As the crypto world grows up, it should be a safer place to play […] and fingers crossed we get some clear-as-mud regulations in the US too […] That should give Bitcoin a boost, which for me means zooming up to $200,000 this year and a sky-high $500,000 before Trump waves goodbye.”

Looking ahead, Kendrick hinted that regulatory clarity—especially around stablecoin rules and KYC—could trigger a flood of institutional and sovereign cash. He dropped names like the Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund, which scooped up a heap of BTC-equivalent shares in the BlackRock ETF at the end of 2024:

“There’s a whole lot of long-term money still sitting on the fence […] and then there’s the Sovereign crowd, with Abu Dhabi leading the charge […] I’m banking on more of that action this year too.”

As the ink dried on this tale, BTC was seen trading at $81,428.

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2025-03-01 04:14