Geoff Kendrick, Standard Chartered Bank's analyst and head of digital assets research, believes bitcoin (BTC) would likely trend upward following the halving due to lower leveraged market positions.

In an interview with BNN Bloomberg over the weekend, Kendrick stated that the current market climate, which has reduced leverage, might boost the value of BTC upwards toward Standard Chartered's end-of-year price prediction of $150,000.

Middle East Tensions Trigger Massive Bitcoin Sell-Off Ahead of Halving, Clearing Path for Market Recovery

As tensions in the Middle East rose in the week leading up to the Bitcoin halving weekend, the crypto market saw millions of liquidations in both short and long positions. BTC fell by about $10,000 as news of Iran's attacks on Israel spread, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake, Cryptopotato reported.

Bitcoin fell from $71,000 to $65,000 and then to $61,000 in a single day. Over 300,000 dealers were ruined, and liquidations totaled $1.8 billion. The bloodbath of that weekend drove out millions of leveraged Bitcoin positions, with April 13 alone becoming the largest daily liquidation since October 2023.

Kendrick stated that liquidating leveraged positions has cleared the way for the crypto market to trend upward and is primed to rise from its current position. Since the market's leverage has been halved, it has the potential to rebound and leap to new heights.

Bitcoin ETFs and Regional Peace Hopes Could Fuel BTC Surge to $250,000 by 2025, Analysts Predict

Aside from the less leveraged positions in the market, Kendrick noted inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and encouraging news from the Iran-Israel conflict as potential drivers for higher BTC prices.

Although spot Bitcoin ETF inflows have temporarily slowed, a Standard Chartered analyst predicts capital inflows of $50-$100 billion over the next 18 to 24 months as the market matures. Kendrick compared the Bitcoin ETF field to gold, predicting it will expand by 4.3x as inflows continue, propelling BTC to $150,000 by the end of 2024 and $200,000 by 2025.

Meanwhile, Standard Chartered forecast that Bitcoin may reach $250,000 by 2025 if Bitcoin ETF inflows achieve the midpoint estimate of $75 billion.

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