Wednesday Oct 16 2024 09:19
3 min
Banking giant Standard Chartered is predicting a sharp rise in bitcoin price, with forecasts suggesting it could approach its all-time high of $73,800 as the U.S. presidential election nears. Rising Treasury yields, growing interest in bitcoin ETFs, and Trump’s improving election odds are key factors driving this potential rally, supported by increasing institutional inflows and bitcoin call option activity.
A new report from banking giant Standard Chartered predicts a potential surge in Bitcoin's value leading up to the U.S. presidential election. Geoff Kendrick, the bank's Global Head of Digital Assets Research, suggests that Bitcoin could approach its all-time high of $73,800 in the weeks before the election.
In a note released on Tuesday, Geoff Kendrick highlighted several factors behind bitcoin's recent upward momentum. He explained:
“For bitcoin, these combined elements suggest a gradual rise toward the all-time high of $73,800 is likely before the election.”
Kendrick pointed to key drivers of this trend, including the steepening U.S. Treasury yield curve, growing interest in spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and Donald Trump's improving election prospects.
The growing institutional participation in the bitcoin market, citing substantial inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs and increasing demand for bitcoin call options. Activity around the $80,000 strike price for call options expiring on December 27 on the Deribit exchange. An additional 1,500 bitcoin was added to the open interest of the $80,000 call just last week, indicating rising confidence in a significant price increase.
The Standard Chartered analyst said that one factor driving the rise in MicroStrategy’s stock value could be the Sept. 16 announcement that BNY Mellon was granted an exemption to SAB 121, a U.S. accounting rule that governs how companies hold and report digital assets. Kendrick explained that this exemption may allow MicroStrategy to engage in bitcoin lending activities, opening up new revenue streams for the company. "This creates the potential for new counterparts for MSTR to lend its bitcoin thus earning yields on the 252,000 bitcoin it holds, and that MSTR’s plan to become 'a bitcoin bank in the core business of creating bitcoin capital market instruments across equity, convertibles, fixed income and preferred shares' has become more apparent," Kendrick added.
Standard Chartered recently predicted that bitcoin will set new all-time highs by the end of 2024, independent of the election’s outcome. According to Kendrick, bitcoin could climb to $125,000 if Trump wins or $75,000 under a Harris presidency, with possible short-term declines if Harris takes office. While regulatory concerns persist, other factors, such as the U.S. Treasury yield curve, offer a positive outlook for bitcoin.
When considering shares, indices, forex (foreign exchange) and commodities for trading and price predictions, remember that trading CFDs involves a significant degree of risk and could result in capital loss.
Past performance is not indicative of any future results. This information is provided for informative purposes only and should not be construed to be investment advice. Trading cryptocurrency CFDs and spread bets is restricted for all UK retail clients.