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The excitement around the arrival of bitcoin exchange-traded funds and the subsequent surge to new highs for the cryptocurrency is making even bitcoin bulls raise their expectations. Standard Chartered's head of digital assets research, Geoff Kendrick, said in a note to clients Monday that he is raising his already-high estimates for bitcoin's trajectory. "We raise our long-held price estimate to the USD 150,000 level from USD 100,000 given the more rapid pass-through from ETF inflows to the BTC price to date," the note said. That $150,000 prediction would be more than double bitcoin's record high of nearly $74,000, according to Coin Metrics. The cryptocurrency was trading at around $68,000 Monday morning. BTC.CM= YTD mountain Bitcoin has rallied to record highs this year. The new bitcoin ETFs have pulled in billions of dollars from investors since their January launch, even with the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust seeing heavy outflows. The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has raked in more than $12 billion on its own, according to FactSet. The post-ETF rally for bitcoin has some similarities in what happened with gold, the physical asset that the digital currency has often been compared to. Kendrick said the behavior of gold after the introduction of its ETFs is one reason for optimism that the bitcoin rally can go even higher in 2025, along with other factors such as projected total ETF inflows of $75 billion. "This suggests to us that USD 200,000 is the 'correct' end-2025 price level for BTC, in line with our previous price estimate and that it is likely to be the new midpoint for a sideways trading range at that time. It also suggests that an overshoot to USD 250,000 is likely at some point in 2025 if ETF inflows continue apace and/or reserve managers buy BTC," the note said. The quick growth of the bitcoin ETFs has boosted confidence that there are more investors interested in crypto who have been reluctant to buy it through crypto exchanges. In theory, these funds could become a long-term, consistent source of demand for bitcoin. Predictions that bitcoin can rise above $100,000 have been made before, including during previous rallies that ended with dramatic declines.

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Standard Chartered: Bitcoin to rally to $150,000 this year - CNBC