Standard Chartered Exec Predicts Bitcoin Would Reach $200K Regardless of US Election Result

Geoff Kendrick, the head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, says Bitcoin will trade at $200,000 by next year regardless of who wins the November US presidential election.

In an interview, the banking giant’s executive tied the expected price surge to three emerging trends. Kendrick asserted that factors related to policy changes, inflation, and inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds would drive Bitcoin’s price to unprecedented levels.

Kendrick Cites Factors That Would Drive Bitcoin Surge

According to him, he sees the government revoking the Staff Accounting Bulletin -121 policy. The policy, introduced in March 2022, requires banks to reveal the crypto assets they hold in custody on their balance sheet.

The policy also limits the amount of digital assets banks can hold, discouraging financial institutions from adopting cryptocurrencies. Although the House and Senate voted in favor of scrapping the policy, President Biden vetoed to keep the regulation.

However, Kendrick noted that he sees the bill ending with the current administration. The exec asserted that either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris would repeal the law when elected.

Inflows Into US Bitcoin ETFs to Peak in Q4

Furthermore, the digital assets expert predicted that incessant inflows into the US Bitcoin spot ETFs would resume in October. The ETF products have had a lax window since July, failing to keep the standards seen between January and June.

Howbeit, Kendrick insists that fund inflows would be resurgent and push Bitcoin to higher prices. It bears mentioning that incessant inflows from US spot ETFs pushed the premier asset to an all-time high of $73,700 in March.

Also, the bank exec cited an uptick in inflation expectations, a factor that will drive investors’ interest in store-of-value asset classes. Hence, the expert sees an impending adoption of Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation and a consequent price implication.

Bitcoin to $125,000 if Trump Wins

While predicting a surge to $200,000 in 2025, regardless of the November election outcome, Kendrick asserted that a Trump victory will drive Bitcoin’s price to $125,000 by the end of this year.

The Standard Chartered executive implied that bullish sentiments around Trump’s pro-Bitcoin stance would steer the asset to six figures. Trump’s apparent mission to rescue cryptocurrency from bad regulatory actors has endeared him to the crypto community. 

The Republican nominee expressed his unwavering support for digital assets, with he and his two sons recently launching a DeFi platform. The family has teased the project to displace the traditional financial system.

Meanwhile, Kendrick speculated that the SEC boss, Gary Gensler, will be leaving office, marking a new wave of regulatory clarity for crypto assets in the US. Notably, Trump had pledged to sack Gensler on his first day in office.

With the SEC boss off the chart, Kendrick sees the crypto sector blossoming again. He noted that ETFs would be approved more quickly, driving institutional adoption. The exec stated that he expects the Solana spot ETFs to launch next, an opinion that the XRP community will debate.