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Standard Chartered, one of the major international banks that has been actively monitoring the crypto market for years, has significantly scaled back its previous optimistic forecast for Bitcoin.
The bank had previously projected that Bitcoin could rise towards $200,000 by the end of 2025, but is now targeting a level around $100,000. Forecasts further into the future have also been revised downward.
Major Bank Walks Back Positive Bitcoin Forecast #
With the year-end price target now halved, the bar for 2026 has also been lowered: instead of $300,000, the bank now sees approximately $150,000 as more realistic.
The old, highly ambitious long-term goal of $500,000 remains, but has been pushed back from 2028 to 2030.
Over the past few months, the market has developed differently than expected. Inflows into Bitcoin ETFs, which were hoped to attract significant new capital, have lagged behind earlier models.
At the same time, the economic environment has become tighter: there is less liquidity in the market, and recent price declines have added extra pressure.
According to the bank, Bitcoin is therefore in a different risk phase than when the original predictions were made. The idea of a longer, powerful bull market no longer fits the current picture.
This does not mean the bank is negative about Bitcoin itself, but rather that the earlier, very high price paths are no longer realistic.
The Core of Bitcoin Remains the Same #
It is noteworthy that Standard Chartered, in particular, is reversing its optimistic predictions. The bank has been known for its distinctly positive expectations for the crypto market in recent years.
When an institution with such a profile moderates its tone, it can influence how professional investors assess the market. Nevertheless, the bank emphasizes that it still finds the long-term arguments for Bitcoin interesting.
According to them, the core remains intact: Bitcoin is scarce, increasingly accessible through traditional financial structures, and part of a more mature market than a few years ago. Only the pace at which these developments affect the price has proven harder to predict.
The banking giant is no longer choosing the old, steep route toward extreme price levels, but a more moderate path. This makes the message to investors clearer: according to the bank, the long-term story for Bitcoin remains intact, but the path upward will be slower than previously thought.
While many large parties are becoming bearish, there is positive news for crypto from American politics: Bitcoin and Ethereum have been given the green light to be used as collateral in derivatives trading.