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

Standard Chartered, a British multinational bank, has issued a bold prediction that Bitcoin (BTC) could reach $500,000 by 2028. The bank expects this price surge due to a more favorable regulatory environment and increased access to Bitcoin.

The bank forecasts that Bitcoin will hit $200,000 in 2025, and then steadily rise to $300,000 in 2026, $400,000 in 2027, and finally hit $500,000 in 2028, before stabilizing the following year. Bitcoin is currently priced at $98,600, up 43% from $68,800 before Trump’s November election win. Standard Chartered's prediction of $500,000 could mean a 407% increase from the current position. At that price, Bitcoin’s market cap would possibly hit $10.5 trillion, surpassing Apple and Microsoft, and account for about half of gold’s $19.4 trillion market cap.

Standard Chartered sees significant growth potential for Bitcoin, largely due to the increased investor access following the introduction of Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. in January 2024. This development is expected to drive further demand and boost Bitcoin’s value.

Standard Chartered has also predicted that Bitcoin's volatility might continue decreasing in the future due to improving financial infrastructure as well as the maturation of the fledgling ETF sector. The 30-day Bitcoin volatility index recently surged to a new year-to-date peak of 2.04 after the cryptocurrency experienced abnormal volatility earlier this week. On Feb. 3, the price of Bitcoin slipped to as low as $91,530 before completing a V-shaped recovery. The cryptocurrency recorded a rare $10,000 daily candle, meaning that high volatility continues to persist despite broader institutional adoption.

The banking institution has also predicted that the price of Bitcoin could end up reaching the $200,000 milestone as soon as this year. Bitcoin is currently changing hands at $98,736, according to CoinGecko data. It is down 9.2% from its record high of $108,7