A Standard Chartered analyst, Geoffrey Kendrick, who previously predicted Bitcoin reaching $120,000 by the second quarter, now believes that price target is "too low." Kendrick, the head of digital assets at Standard Chartered, communicated this revised outlook in an email to clients, suggesting his earlier forecast may be conservative.

Last month, Kendrick projected Bitcoin to hit an all-time high of around $120,000 in the second quarter of 2025, driven by strategic asset reallocation away from U.S. assets and accumulation by major holders or "whales." He anticipated continued gains through the summer, potentially pushing Bitcoin towards a year-end forecast of $200,000.

The analyst now asserts that the $120,000 target "looks very achievable" and might be surpassed. He notes a shift in the dominant narrative surrounding Bitcoin. Initially, it was correlated with risk assets, then viewed as a means to reposition assets away from the U.S. Now, Kendrick emphasizes the importance of flows into Bitcoin from various sources.

These comments follow Bitcoin once again exceeding the $100,000 level. According to Coin Metrics, the cryptocurrency was last trading up by 4.5% at $100,511.22. Analysts have observed Bitcoin trading similarly to risk assets like U.S. technology stocks, attributing this pattern to increased institutional capital inflows, making it more susceptible to market risks faced by equity markets.

Kendrick, a long-time Bitcoin bull, highlights the $5.3 billion inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) over the past three weeks, indicating greater institutional investment. He cites examples of significant investors allocating portions of their portfolios to Bitcoin, including MicroStrategy's increased Bitcoin purchases, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund's holding of BlackRock's IBIT Bitcoin ETF, and the Swiss National Bank's acquisition of MicroStrategy shares. MicroStrategy is widely viewed as a proxy for Bitcoin exposure.