StanChart Bets Big: Bitcoin to Hit $120K by June

Standard Chartered doubles down on crypto optimism, forecasting Bitcoin’s meteoric rise to $120,000 before Q2 closes—just as traditional finance scrambles to explain its 20% quarterly losses.

The bank’s analysts cite perfect storm of ETF inflows, halving scarcity, and that classic market ingredient: irrational greed. Meanwhile, gold bugs weep into their spreadsheets.

Can BTC really deliver 70% gains in eight weeks? The charts say maybe. Your risk manager says hell no. Place your bets.

Strategic reallocation

According to the report, a strategic move away from US assets is a major catalyst for Bitcoin’s expected upswing.

Kendrick highlighted that the rising US Treasury term premium, a metric closely correlated with Bitcoin price movements, is signaling a reallocation trend that could favor Bitcoin.

Time-of-day trading patterns also suggest that “US investors themselves are divesting out of US assets,” while on-chain data indicates that Bitcoin whales have been steadily accumulating during recent months.

Kendrick said that flows out of traditional gold ETFs and into Bitcoin ETFs have also started, adding further momentum to the outlook.

Bitcoin is currently trading around $94,000, roughly seven times higher than its cycle low from November 2022. Standard Chartered expects these supportive factors to push Bitcoin to “a fresh all-time high” in the second quarter.

Path to $200,000 in sight

Looking further ahead, Kendrick reaffirmed the lender’s end-2025 price target, stating:

“Then onto my $200k end-year forecast.”

The report emphasized that while “timing the upswing is tricky,” the indicators now lining up suggest an imminent move higher.

A chart included in the research note illustrated the strong historical correlation between Bitcoin’s price and the US Treasury term premium, reinforcing the argument that macroeconomic shifts could accelerate Bitcoin’s growth.

Kendrick concluded the note with a recommendation to position for an imminent upside move in Bitcoin.

Standard Chartered’s bullish stance comes as Bitcoin continues to attract institutional inflows and broader acceptance as a strategic asset amid global financial market uncertainty.