Bitcoin Poised for Record Highs as ETF Inflows Surge, Standard Chartered Says
Bitcoin (BTC) is on track to reach new record highs, driven by significant investment flows, with U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) leading the charge, according to Standard Chartered (STAN).
In the past three weeks, spot bitcoin ETFs have witnessed a substantial $5.3 billion in inflows, the bank noted in a report Thursday. After adjusting for hedge fund basis trades, net real inflows are estimated to exceed $4 billion. Basis trades involve exploiting the price discrepancy between the spot price of bitcoin and its futures market price.
Strategy (MSTR), a major corporate bitcoin holder, has notably increased its holdings to 555,450 BTC, which now represents 2.6% of bitcoin’s total future supply. Standard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick, head of digital assets research, highlighted that the company’s efforts to raise $84 billion to expand its bitcoin stash could push its holdings to over 6% of total supply.
The bank also anticipates that next week’s 13F institutional filings could reveal further signs of institutional adoption. Notably, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund holds BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF (IBIT), and both the Swiss National Bank and Norges Bank have disclosed positions in MSTR.
On the policy front, New Hampshire recently passed a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill, becoming the first U.S. state to do so, signaling increasing alignment of policy with the growing bitcoin adoption trend.
Considering these developments, Standard Chartered suggests that its previous second-quarter bitcoin price target of $120,000 may now be too conservative. The bank has raised its year-end price target for bitcoin to $200,000.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading around $101,000, inching closer to its all-time high.
