Amidst the current turbulence in the market, an extremely positive declaration has been made by the lead cryptocurrency analyst of Standard Chartered, Geoffrey Kendrick, forecasting that by the end of 2024, Ether and Bitcoin will have experienced an immense rise in their values.
Liquidations and doubts over global politics are some of the obstacles that the crypto-enthusiasts are facing. However, Kendrick still predicts an extended growth trend for both digital currencies, with Ether reaching a maximum of $8,000 and Bitcoin climbing to $15,000.
Kendrick, the head of digital currency and exchange research at Standard Chartered, believes that the market has endured the adverse effects. Nevertheless, he thinks that the adverse factors start to decline and that positive structural factors are the stage to drive the recovery.
“We believe the ‘bad news’ is already discounted for the BTC and ETH, and as the positive structural drivers become dominant, the negative ones will fade away in the background,” Kendrick explained. In addition, he said that after the reduction of USD 261 million of leveraged long positions on Bitcoin futures of one day just on April 13th due to tension in the geopolitical arena caused by Iran’s attack on Israel, the market position has increasingly improved.
This clearing out from Kendrick’s viewpoint is essential to his sanguine scenario. He stressed that the latest Bitcoin halving event, which reduced the mining proceeds by half, made the market stable at the current price level. He also pointed out the evolving picture surrounding Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), highlighting the progress not only in the U.S. but also in other parts of the globe, like in the U.K. and Hong Kong markets.
Although it has challenges like government surveillance on decentralised finance (DeFi) systems, rising U.S. Treasury bond rates, and ongoing international conflicts, Standard Chartered is still confident about the prospects of virtual currencies. Kendrick’s analysis shows the complex relationship between the global economy and the performance of crypto, but at the same time, there is a potential for development in this emerging market.
However, Kendrick also points out that the medium-term would be positive for cryptocurrency investments, especially considering the possibility of easing tensions in the Middle East region.
This view reinforces the return to the medium-term long positions, expecting the global ETF environment to shift to a better one and structural changes in the cryptocurrency markets.
The optimism of Standard Chartered’s top cryptocurrency analyst is contrary to the investor’s indecisiveness in search of stability and growth amidst the chaos in the volatile crypto markets.
Kendrick’s insights present a hopeful outlook, with a possibility of a major boost for the leading cryptocurrencies in the long run as underlying structural changes and market clean-up dominate the outlook.
