Foreign media reported that Standard Chartered Bank has not lowered its annual outlook for the crypto market following the recent pullback. Geoffrey Kendrick, Head of Digital Assets Research at the bank, believes that Bitcoin's decline to around $59,000 may have reached the near-term low point; the bank's annual target for Ethereum remains at $4,000.
$59,000 is still considered a low point.
In his latest analysis, Kendrick stated that after Bitcoin rebounded from the $59,000 level, there has been no clear signal of a new wave of systemic weakness in the market. Therefore, Standard Chartered maintains its year-end Bitcoin price target of $100,000 and does not view this pullback as the beginning of a trend-breaking decline.
He attributed this round of selling pressure to a combination of factors, including forced liquidations, weak fund flows into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, and strained market liquidity. According to this view, the earlier decline was primarily due to short-term funding pressures rather than a fundamental reversal of long-term demand.
ETF cash flows remain a key validation focus.
The article notes that large redemptions occurred in U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs during the pullback, weakening the institutional buying pressure that previously supported Bitcoin. Kendrick believes that if funds resume sustained net inflows, it would help validate the view that the market has completed its阶段性 bottoming process.
In addition to ETFs, whether institutional demand continues is also a key focus. The report notes that the market is still monitoring whether Strategy continues to absorb Bitcoin supply, as corporate treasury purchases of this type still impact short-term supply and demand dynamics.
At the same time, Kendrick linked liquidity pressures to cash demands near SpaceX’s IPO window, suggesting that risk assets may face capital diversion during this period. The article also noted that synthetic trading markets related to SpaceX have attracted notable trading volume among crypto-native traders.
Ethereum aims to maintain $4,000
Regarding Ethereum, Kendrick maintained his target price unchanged, still expecting ETH to rise to $4,000 this year and outperform Bitcoin in relative terms. The article noted that Standard Chartered’s previous assessment of Ethereum was primarily based on demand for stablecoins, tokenized assets, and on-chain settlement.
Although ETH was still trading around $1,665, significantly below its target level, the firm noted that Ethereum network usage has not been as weak as its price performance. Kendrick also mentioned that a rebound in the ETH/BTC ratio would be seen as a signal of investors increasing their exposure to Ethereum.
Additional Information: This article is a market perspective piece. The key indicators to monitor include whether Bitcoin can hold the $59,000 level, whether spot ETFs resume net inflows, whether corporate buying remains stable, and whether Ethereum’s relative strength improves.