Eseandre Mordi
⬤ Standard Chartered, an $800 billion banking powerhouse, just slashed its end-2026 Bitcoin target from $150,000 down to $100,000—and that's not even the scary part. The bank is now warning that BTC could tumble toward $50,000 in the short run as market conditions shift and crypto product flows weaken. According to Coin Bureau, the downgrade reflects a serious reassessment of where digital assets are headed over the next year.
⬤ So what's driving this sudden dose of reality? Standard Chartered pointed to a trio of headwinds: ETF outflows, a weaker macro backdrop, and the Federal Reserve dragging its feet on rate cuts. When liquidity expectations cool off and risk appetite starts to fade, Bitcoin's momentum can evaporate fast. The bank's revised view shows just how sensitive crypto sentiment is to policy timing and fund flows. For more on where BTC stands right now, check out this BTC price analysis.
⬤ Ethereum didn't escape the chop either. Standard Chartered trimmed its ETH forecast to $4,000 and flagged downside risk all the way down to $1,400. The reasoning? Same story—ETF outflows and macro pressure are hitting both assets hard. It's clear the bank sees BTC and ETH moving in lockstep, driven by the same set of catalysts and rate expectations. If you're tracking Ethereum's next move, here's the latest ETH price outlook.
The combination of ETF outflows and delayed Fed easing is reshaping our outlook across major digital assets.
⬤ Why does this matter? Because when a major bank shifts its institutional baseline from bullish to cautious, it sets the tone for how the broader market thinks about risk into 2026. Right now, the near-term path for both Bitcoin and Ethereum is tilted toward downside, not recovery. With ETF flows still bleeding and the Fed's easing timeline up in the air, macro signals are going to be the main driver of where crypto heads next. For context on what the Fed might do, see Fed rate cut expectations.
Eseandre Mordi
