Share this article
Standard Chartered Throws in the Towel on Bullish Bitcoin Forecast
Bowing to what he called a "cold breeze," but not a "crypto winter," Geoff Kendrick slashed his year-end outlook for BTC to $100,000 and doesn't expect $500,000 until 2030 versus 2028 previously.
Updated Dec 9, 2025, 2:32 p.m. Published Dec 9, 2025, 1:40 p.m.
What to know:
- Bitcoin’s roughly 36% slide from its Oct. 6 peak has been steep, but it remains within expected bounds, according to analyst Geoff Kendrick.
- Further corporate buying via bitcoin digital asset treasury firms is unlikely as their valuations no longer justify expansion.
- He slashed his year-end outlooks for bitcoin, now seeing $500,000 as being hit in 2030 versus 2028 previously.
Geoff Kendrick has seen enough.
"Recent price action in bitcoin has been challenging, to say the least," said Standard Chartered's global head of digital assets in a Tuesday note titled "Not a crypto winter, just a cold breeze."
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Key among the reasons for Kendrick's shift is the collapse in the share values of bitcoin-focused digital asset treasury companies (DATs). One leg of his bull case, said Kendrick, was continued waves of buying by these firms. Their sharp price declines — many, if not most, now trading for below the value of the bitcoin on their balance sheets — leaves them seriously constrained in their ability raise further capital for fresh BTC purchases.
"We expect a consolidation rather than outright selling, but DAT buying is unlikely to provide further support," said Kendrick.
The bitcoin bull case going forward, Kendrick continued, now rests solely with ETF buying. He thus slashed his year-end 2025 price outlook to $100,000 from $200,000, 2026 to $150,000 from $300,000, 2027 to $225,000 from $400,000 and 2028 to $300,000 from $500,000. That $500,000 target will now have to wait until 2030, said Kendrick.
Institutional access and investment-committee decision-making can take time, concluded Kendrick, but could ultimately drive the next major wave of demand.
Read more: JPMorgan Maintains Bitcoin's Gold-Linked Target at $170K Despite Recent Drop
AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Crypto Markets Today: Fed Rate-Cut Hopes Lift BTC, ETH as Traders Brace for Volatility
Crypto markets are firm ahead of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve decision, with a 25 basis-point interest-rate cut already priced in.
What to know:
- Risk assets are buoyant ahead of the Fed, but rate decisions often trigger sharp intraday swings and a “sell-the-news” dip remains possible.
- Bitcoin sits at $92,300 and has spent the past week between $88,000 and $94,500; a break of either bound may set up the next move.
- Ether is outperforming post-Fusaka upgrade, but broader altcoin sentiment is weak with CoinMarketCap's altcoin season index at 16/100. HYPE, STRK, KAS and APT lead declines while AI token FET rebounds.
Top Stories
