Standard Chartered Still Sees Bitcoin Hitting $100,000 This Year

British bank Standard Chartered (LON: STAN) still expects Bitcoin's (CRYPTO: $BTC) price to reach $100,000 U.S. by the end of 2026.

Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank's global head of digital assets, has reaffirmed his year-end target for Bitcoin despite previously cutting his forecast twice from an earlier estimate of $300,000 U.S.

The analyst's previous year-end Bitcoin targets came up short in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The gaps varied considerably, and Standard Chartered is known for frequently revising its forecasts for cryptocurrencies depending on investment flows, politics, and macro conditions.

However, the latest bullish call from the bank comes with Bitcoin having gained 42% in this year's third quarter.

BTC has risen from $59,101.49 U.S. on July 1 to trade at $84,500 U.S. on Sept. 30, a greater than 40% gain over the last three months.

Bitcoin's third-quarter performance beat the U.S. stock market, with the benchmark S&P 500 index having gained less than 3% between July and September.

Kendrick had forecast that Bitcoin's price would reach $200,000 U.S. by the end of 2025. However, he lowered his target to $100,000 U.S. by year-end 2026 as a crypto winter set in.

After hitting an all-time high of just over $126,000 U.S. in October 2025, the price of BTC fell as low as $58,000 U.S. at the end of June this year before rebounding in the third quarter.

Kendrick called the decline in Bitcoin's price a buying opportunity rather than evidence of a structural decline in the digital asset.