Bitcoin Price Will Rise to $500,000 'Before Trump Leaves Office': Standard Chartered

British multinational bank Standard Chartered predicts that Bitcoin (BTC) will soar to $500,000 before Donald Trump leaves office as President of the United States. This price increase, the bank believes, will come as the result of a friendlier regulatory environment and greater access to the asset.

Standard Chartered believes that Bitcoin will hit $200,000 in 2025, steadily increasing to $300,000 in 2026, $400,000 in 2027, and then $500,000 in 2028—when it believes BTC will plateau in the next year.

Bitcoin currently sits at $98,600, a 43% increase from its price of $68,800 before Trump secured electoral victory in November. Standard Chartered’s prediction of $500,000 would be a 407% increase from this position. In this scenario, Bitcoin would have a market cap of $10.5 trillion, likely surpassing Apple and Microsoft in the process. At that price, it would also account roughly half of gold’s current $19.4 trillion market cap.

The primary reason that Standard Chartered believes Bitcoin has room for growth is due to the increase in investor access following the January 2024 introduction of Bitcoin spot exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the States. 

“The ETFs have attracted a net $39 billion of inflows so far, supporting the theory of pent-up demand being unleashed by increased access,” Global Head of Digital Assets Research at Standard Chartered, Geoff Kendrick, wrote in a release.

Kendrick adds that the U.S. regulatory environment is getting friendlier, noting the repeal of Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) No. 121, guidance that required companies to record digital assets as liabilities, as an “important step” for the industry.

“Trump’s January 23 order that the administration evaluate a potential national digital assets stockpile is also important, as this could encourage other central banks to consider Bitcoin investments,” Kendrick added.

If this starts to come into fruition, Standard Chartered explains, that Bitcoin’s notorious volatility will temper which will attract traditional investors that were previously scared of the price swings.

“As volatility falls, Bitcoin’s share of an optimised two-asset portfolio with gold increases,” Kendrick said. “Investor access and lower volatility should lead to price appreciation longer-term as portfolios continue to move towards their optimal/logical state.”

Edited by Stacy Elliott.