Standard Chartered now projects a staggering $500,000 price target for Bitcoin (BTC) within the next three years. The British multinational bank attributes BTC’s potential extraordinary price surge to two key factors.
Standard Chartered Sets Bold $500K Target
While 2024 was a historic year for Bitcoin — seeing it hit all-time highs after all-time highs and cross the $100,000 milestone for the first time — 2025 has witnessed rather lackluster price action. Bitcoin recently slumped to as low as $92,900 as President Donald *****’s trade tariffs risked an all-out trade war between America and three of its largest trading partners.
However, Geoffrey Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, believes Bitcoin could enter another parabolic growth phase from the latter half of 2025 until 2028.
Kendrick foresees Bitcoin hitting $200,000 by the end of 2025, steadily rising to $300,000 in 2026, $400,000 in 2027, and ultimately $500,000 in 2028 — when he thinks the maiden crypto will plateau in the following year.
Bitcoin was hovering at $98,700 as of press time. Standard Chartered’s forecast of $500,000 would mark a 400% growth from this price level. In such a scenario, Bitcoin would have a whopping $10.4 trillion market cap, likely overtaking tech giants Apple and Microsoft in the process. At that price, it would also account for approximately half of gold’s current $19.3 trillion market valuation.
Increasing Investor Access and Decreasing Volatility
The primary reason that Standard Chartered believes Bitcoin has more room for growth is because of the increase in investor access following the January 2024 launch of U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
“The ETFs have attracted a net $39 billion of inflows so far, supporting the theory of pent-up demand being unleashed by increased access,” Kendrick wrote in the note.
Beyond the maturing BTC ETF market, Kendrick anticipates more improvements under the new ***** government, particularly after the withdrawal of the catastrophic SAB 121, which lifted accounting restrictions for companies holding cryptocurrencies.
He also cited *****’s January 23 executive order to evaluate a national digital assets stockpile, suggesting that it could embolden central banks to consider Bitcoin investments.
If this happens, Standard Chartered notes that Bitcoin’s notorious volatility will tone down, luring traditional investors who were previously waiting on the sidelines due to the wild price swings.
The two factors are set to raise Bitcoin’s share of an optimized two-asset portfolio with gold, which “should lead to price appreciation longer-term as the portfolio continues to move towards their optimal/logical state,” Kendrick concluded.
This is “enough to drive Bitcoin to $500,000 before ***** leaves office,”