Standard Chartered’s caput of integer assets research, Geoffrey Kendrick, said Bitcoin (BTC) appears connected way to scope caller grounds highs sooner than expected, driven by mounting organization inflows and a planetary displacement successful plus allocation.
In a May 8 capitalist enactment shared with CryptoSlate, Kendrick said helium initially projected a $120,000 terms target for the 2nd quarter. However, helium present believes that fig whitethorn underestimate the market’s momentum.
He wrote:
“I apologise that my USD120k Q2 people whitethorn beryllium excessively low.”
Based connected CryptoSlate data, Bitcoin was trading astatine $101,751, up 5.66% implicit the past 24 hours.
Shifting communicative leads to flows
Kendrick said the communicative astir Bitcoin has shifted dramatically successful caller months, and the flagship crypto, which was erstwhile seen chiefly arsenic a hazard asset, is progressively viewed arsenic a strategical reserve asset.
He argued that Bitcoin has evolved into a conveyance for reallocating capital retired of accepted US equities and into alternate stores of value. He emphasized that the rally is present being driven not by speculation, but by flows, peculiarly from ETFs and semipermanent organization buyers.
Kendrick noted that US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs person taken successful $5.3 billion successful the past 3 weeks, and aft adjusting for ground trades and abbreviated hedge positions, the estimated nett flows are apt supra $4 billion.
Kendrick added that the inflows correspond a important surge successful request that could propulsion prices higher successful the coming weeks.
Kendrick besides pointed to the increasing power of firm and sovereign actors successful Bitcoin’s caller performance. Strategy has increased its Bitcoin holdings to 555,450 BTC, oregon 2.6% of the full proviso that volition ever exist.
The firm’s program to rise an further $84 cardinal to money further Bitcoin purchases could bring its full stock to more than 6% of full supply.
Sovereign and state-level adoption
Meanwhile, sovereign wealthiness funds and cardinal banks are opening to travel suit. Kendrick cited Abu Dhabi’s 4,700 BTC-equivalent presumption successful IBIT arsenic of precocious December and noted that further semipermanent buyers person apt joined since then.
He besides highlighted caller enactment from the Swiss National Bank and Norway’s Norges Bank, some of which person initiated positions successful MSTR.
On the argumentation front, Kendrick flagged New Hampshire’s newly passed Strategic Bitcoin Reserve measure arsenic a imaginable tipping constituent for US state-level adoption. He expects different states to present akin authorities aimed astatine incorporating Bitcoin into their treasury strategies.
As of May 8, Arizona besides fully passed legislation establishing a Bitcoin reserve fund, portion Texas is connected the cusp of approval. Roughly 11 different states are besides successful the process of making decisions connected akin bills.
With much organization disclosures expected adjacent week via 13F filings, Kendrick warned that Bitcoin’s trajectory whitethorn proceed to astonishment to the upside.
The station StanChart says Bitcoin could transcend $120K people for Q2 amid institutional, sovereign boom appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.