Bitcoin to $500K by 2028: Standard Chartered's Bold Prediction

Standard Chartered, a British multinational banking and financial services company, has forecasted that the price of Bitcoin (BTC) is likely to reach $500,000 by 2028. This prediction is based on increased investor access to the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, as well as a decrease in its volatility.

Geoffrey Kendrick, the global head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, believes that Bitcoin's role as a hedge against inflation and other economic issues will grow, contributing to its price appreciation. He also expects that U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track Bitcoin's price will mature, leading to less volatility in the market.

Standard Chartered's year-end price targets for Bitcoin are $200,000 in 2025 and $300,000 in 2026. The bank's bullish outlook comes as cryptocurrencies have risen sharply since U.S. President Donald Trump was re-elected last November, with a promise to make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the planet."

Bitcoin is currently trading at $96,784, having gained about 3% so far in 2025. While most Wall Street firms do not offer ratings or price targets on Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency's performance has risen 28.24% in the last 12 weeks.

Standard Chartered's optimistic outlook for Bitcoin's price trajectory is based on two major factors: increasing institutional access and decreasing market volatility. The approval of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs has greatly improved investor access to the asset, and Kendrick expects this trend to accelerate under Trump's administration. As the ETF market develops, Kendrick expects Bitcoin volatility to decrease, which could encourage further adoption of the asset among institutional investors.

Kendrick predicts that Bitcoin's price will reach $200,000 by 2025, $300,000 by 2026, $400,000 by 2027, and $500,000 by 2028. He expects BTC to remain at this level until 2029. However, the bank's previous prediction that BTC would reach $125,00