Key facts
- Standard Chartered analyst Geoffrey Kendrick maintains a $100,000 year-end bitcoin price target.
- Kendrick cites resilient long-term demand for bitcoin.
- Strategy, the largest corporate bitcoin holder, disclosed its first sale since 2022.
- Bitcoin has tumbled more than 12% this week.
- Kendrick noted a risk of further selling pressure if bitcoin falls below $60,000.
- Kendrick expects Strategy to aggressively buy back bitcoin.
Geoffrey Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, has reiterated his prediction that bitcoin will reach $100,000 by the end of the year. This stance comes despite a 'painful' week for the cryptocurrency, which has tumbled more than 12% since Monday. Kendrick attributed his continued optimism to resilient long-term demand for bitcoin and suggested that the current price levels present a potential buying zone. His comments follow the disclosure by Strategy, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, that it had sold some holdings for the first time since 2022. Kendrick noted that the timing of the sale was unfortunate and that there is a risk of further selling pressure if bitcoin falls below $60,000. He also expects Strategy to aggressively buy back bitcoin, as they have done in the past after selling. Strategy's sale, representing 0.004% of its holdings, was intended to fund distributions on its preferred stock, but its symbolic significance has raised questions about Strategy's ability to meet dividend obligations without further sales.