JPMorgan & Standard Chartered See Bitcoin Rallying to $165K-$200K

JPMorgan analysts, led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, maintain a bullish outlook on Bitcoin, forecasting its price could rally to $165,000 by year-end, establishing a new all-time high. Their optimistic projection stems from Bitcoin’s perceived undervaluation against gold. The analysts highlight that a recent steep rise in gold prices has made Bitcoin more appealing, especially as the BTC-to-gold volatility ratio has dropped to 1.85. This implies Bitcoin consumes 1.85 times more risk capital than gold. To conceptually equalize this on a volume-adjusted basis with the approximately $6 trillion private sector investment in gold, Bitcoin’s market capitalization would need to mechanically increase by close to 42%, pushing its price to the $165,000 mark.

Furthermore, JPMorgan points to the ongoing “debasement trade,” where investors increasingly allocate capital to Bitcoin and gold as a hedge against inflation. This trend is corroborated by robust Bitcoin ETF inflows, which recorded over $3.2 billion in net inflows this week—the second-largest weekly sum since their launch. These inflows have significantly contributed to Bitcoin’s recent performance, with the asset already up 7% in October and nearly touching its previous all-time high of $124,400, reaching $124,000.

Adding to the bullish sentiment, Standard Chartered analyst Geoff Kendrick provides an even more ambitious forecast, predicting Bitcoin could reach $200,000 by year-end. Kendrick suggests a prolonged U.S. government shutdown could fuel this rally due to Bitcoin’s correlation with Treasury term premiums. He also anticipates increased ETF inflows will continue to drive Bitcoin higher, solidifying its role as a hedge against macroeconomic uncertainty. Standard Chartered projects an imminent rally to $135,000, surpassing Citigroup’s $132,000 year-end target. While the article doesn’t explicitly detail risks, the reliance on macroeconomic conditions and investor sentiment implies inherent market volatility. Currently, Bitcoin is trading around $112,500.

(Source: https://bitcoinist.com/bitcoin-on-track-to-hit-165000/)