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(Kitco News) -With Bitcoin seeing strong price increases ahead of the new year, the leading cryptocurrency could be on the verge of another major run higher, with one bank looking for prices to more than double from current levels by the end of 2024.
Bitcoin‘s fortunes started to turn in early October on growing expectations that the Securities and Exchange Commission would approve the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States. In a recent report, Geoff Kendrick, head of FX and digital assets research at Standard Chartered, said that the eventual approval of the long-awaited Bitcoin ETF could spark another surge in the price.
The bullish comments come as Bitcoin prices have more than doubled from their September lows of around $25,000 per token. The digital currency last traded at just below $43,000 per token.
In his 2024 outlook, Kendrick reiterated his call for bitcoin prices to rally to $100,000 next year.
“We think a number of spot ETFs will now be approved in Q1-2024 for both BTC and ETH, paving the way for institutional investment,” the analysts said in the report.
“We now expect more price upside to materialize before the halving than we previously did, specifically via the earlier-than-expected introduction of U.S. spot ETFs. This suggests a risk that the USD 100,000 level could be reached before end-2024,” they added.
As prices continue to rise through the new year, Kendrick said that he expects demand to outweigh the supply of minted digital coins. He pointed out that higher prices mean cryptocurrency miners don’t have to release so many coins into the marketplace.
The team noted that nearly all the Bitcoin mined in the second quarter was sold, but this trend is expected to shift in the first quarter of next year.
“If the BTC price averages $50,000 by Q1-2024, as we predict, the ‘BTC minus all cash costs’ calculation would rise to $30,000,” he wrote. “On that basis, selling just 27% of BTC mined in Q1-2024 would generate the same absolute level of excess cash as selling 100% in Q2-2023.”
According to the report, selling only 27% of mined coins in the next quarter would reduce the net supply of Bitcoin by around 250,000.
At the same time, the halving event, which is expected to take place in April, will further limit the supply of Bitcoin for potential investors and will also likely push prices higher.
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