Bitcoin’s rally is rewriting the script at Standard Chartered. What once looked like a bold prediction is now starting to seem conservative. Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank’s head of digital assets research, is rethinking his previously ambitious target for BTC, saying his $120,000 price projection for Q2 might already be outdated.
“I have to admit, the $120K target may actually be too low,” Kendrick shared with clients in an email on Thursday—marking a rare moment of a top financial strategist publicly walking back their own forecast, not because it was wrong, but because it may not have been optimistic enough.
Bitcoin surged more than 3% on Thursday, briefly topping $99,000 and nudging the symbolic $100,000 mark. The rally, Kendrick emphasized, isn’t being driven by speculation or social media hype. This time, it’s the serious money that’s moving the needle.
From Risky Tech Correlation to Flow-Driven Demand
Back in April, Kendrick forecasted that BTC would smash through its previous highs and land near $120,000 by the end of June. The rationale? Institutional investors shifting away from U.S. assets and large-scale accumulation by crypto whales.
But that thesis has evolved. “It’s no longer about avoiding U.S. risk or riding tech trends,” Kendrick now says. “It’s all about flows—and they’re coming from every direction.”
The numbers tell the story. U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen a massive $5.3 billion in net inflows over the past three weeks alone. That kind of capital injection isn’t just noise—it’s structural.
Who’s Buying? Big Institutions, Sovereign Wealth Funds & Strategy
Kendrick isn’t the only one noticing the shift. Several heavyweight institutions are staking serious claims in the Bitcoin market. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority now holds shares in BlackRock’s IBIT ETF. The Swiss National Bank has added stock from Strategy—Michael Saylor’s firm that treats Bitcoin like digital gold—to its portfolio.
Strategy itself continues its aggressive BTC acquisition, becoming, in many ways, a public-market proxy for Bitcoin. “This isn’t retail-driven FOMO,” Kendrick pointed out. “These are measured, strategic allocations.”
And if this pace keeps up? Kendrick hints that $200,000 by year-end is now a possibility—not a fantasy.
