BTC ETF Approval Odds Remain At 90%; Standard Chartered's Bullish Prediction Puts Bitcoin At $100K

As the odds of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) approvals happening by January remains at 90%, international banking group Standard Chartered predicts that BTC, the world's largest crypto asset by market cap, will trade at the price level of $100,000 by the end of 2024.

Reiterating its April forecast on the price of BTC, the bank said the "next catalyst" will be the spot bitcoin ETF approvals.

"We think a number of spot ETFs will now be approved in Q1-2024 for both BTC and (ETH), paving the way for institutional investment," the bank said in a research note, Coindesk reported.

"Things are going as expected," it added. "The next catalyst will be the approvals of several U.S.-based spot bitcoin ETFs, which they anticipate to "likely to come sooner than expected."

Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analysts predict that there is a 90% likelihood that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve the much-awaited spot Bitcoin ETF applications by Jan. 10.

Reiterating his previous prediction on the proposed crypto investment vehicle, analyst Eric Balchunas said, "People asking me if we changed odds. No, we still holding line at 90% odds of approval by Jan 10 (aka this cycle), the same odds we've had for months (before it was cool/safe). What we watching for now: more amended/final filings to roll in and clarity on in-kind vs. cash creates."

The ETF analyst pointed out that the SEC communicating with spot Bitcoin ETF issuers behind the scenes could indicate the regulator's willingness to see the launch of the investment product.

"But the imp [important] thing that gets lost in the debates over exact dates and comments and timeline is the SEC and issuers are working hard behind the scenes to get these ETFs ready to go THIS CYCLE, which most said wouldn't happen. That's the bottom line," Balchunas added.

Another Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst, James Seyffart, who shared Balchunas' views, welcomed Standard Chartered's prediction.

"Welcome to the party standard chartered!" he wrote on X.

Bitcoin was trading in the red zone at $37,734.22 as of 6:25 a.m. ET on Thursday, with a 24-hour trading volume down by 18.39% at $19.89 billion. Its price action represented a 0.77% decrease in the past 24 hours and a 0.3% loss in the last seven days.

Data from CoinMarketCap showed that its circulating supply stands at 19.55 million BTC, while its value continues to fall by 0.94% at a market cap of $723,347,189,221.