Standard Chartered sets Bitcoin year-end price target at $100K, down from earlier $300K forecast

Standard Chartered is sticking with its $100K year-end Bitcoin price target for 2026. That number sounds bullish until you remember the bank originally called for $300K.

Geoffrey Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, is framing Bitcoin’s recent slide below $60K as a temporary dip rather than a structural breakdown. His argument: the selling pressure came from a perfect storm of ETF outflows, forced liquidations, and one notable corporate seller, not from a fundamental deterioration in Bitcoin’s thesis.

The selloff, unpacked

June 2026 was rough for Bitcoin holders. The price dipped below $60K amid what Kendrick described as a confluence of short-term pain points.

Bitcoin ETFs saw over $2 billion in outflows, a record that rattled sentiment across the market. Strategy, the Michael Saylor-led company formerly known as MicroStrategy, conducted a small liquidation of its holdings, adding fuel to the fire. And leveraged traders got wiped out to the tune of $1.8 billion in liquidations.

Post-selloff, Bitcoin has been hovering around the $63K to $64K range. Kendrick views this as the buying zone, essentially arguing that the worst of the liquidation cascade is behind us.

A target that keeps shrinking

The bank originally projected Bitcoin would hit $300K by year-end 2026. Then came a revision to $150K earlier in the year, around February 2026. Now we are at $100K.

Standard Chartered has also set a $4K year-end target for Ethereum, which is relatively conservative compared to the bank’s longer-term projections.

The long game

Where Standard Chartered gets genuinely aggressive is the 2030 outlook. Kendrick and his team project Bitcoin reaching $500K and Ethereum hitting $40K by the end of the decade.

What this means for investors

The ETF outflow dynamic is worth watching closely. Record outflows of over $2 billion signal that some institutional and retail investors are capitulating, which historically tends to happen near local bottoms.

The $1.8 billion in leveraged liquidations also means the market has been somewhat de-risked. Less leverage in the system generally translates to more stable price action going forward, though it also means rallies tend to be less explosive without leveraged longs amplifying upward moves.

The February revision came with warnings of near-term pain, suggesting Bitcoin prices could fall to around $50,000 before rebounding, highlighting the importance of a careful approach for investors amidst growing volatility.