What exactly did Standard Chartered say?
Geoff Kendrick, an analyst at Standard Chartered, said in a note to clients that in his view bitcoin could return to the $100,000 level by the end of 2026. He bases this on improving liquidity conditions in the market. This information was reported by Cointelegraph and was subsequently picked up by a number of European crypto outlets, including the Slovak, Czech, and Polish markets.
The word order matters here: this is not a price target that charliedesk would recommend to anyone. It is a conditional scenario from a single analyst at a single bank. So we are examining his logic, not his truth.
What is the condition the whole thing rests on?
At the core of Kendrick's thesis is a move by the US Treasury. According to Slovak and Czech reporting, it announced an increase in the volume of buybacks of long-term government bonds, from roughly $2 billion to at least $4 billion, that is, a doubling.
The idea behind it is as follows. When the state buys back its own long-term bonds, it puts money into the market and reduces pressure on the long end of the yield curve. That usually means more liquidity in the financial system. And riskier assets, which bitcoin belongs to, have historically reacted sensitively to improvements in liquidity.
But be careful: the link between liquidity and the price of bitcoin is a correlation observed in the past, not a guaranteed mechanism. That the Treasury increased buybacks is a fact. That bitcoin will therefore reach $100,000 is a thesis, not proof.
Which level is key for Kendrick?
According to the Polish outlet Incrypted, Kendrick labeled the level around $65,500 as the bottom of this move. In other words: if this assumption holds, the worst is, in his view, already behind the market. Cointelegraph also notes that at the time the analysis was written, bitcoin was recovering toward $69,000.
So we have two numbers worth remembering and checking later:
| Item | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Labeled bottom | ~$65,500 | Incrypted (per Kendrick) |
| Price at time of analysis | ~$69,000 | Cointelegraph |
| Scenario target level | $100,000 by the end of 2026 | Cointelegraph, Incrypted |
Is Standard Chartered alone in this?
No. Czech and Slovak crypto outlets placed Kendrick's note in a broader narrative, according to which the optimism is shared by large asset managers such as BlackRock and Fidelity. However, the verified sources for this article do not contain details of their specific statements, so we do not present them here as facts and mark them as unknown. Only Standard Chartered's stance, via Kendrick, is clearly documented.
Why do we track this from a local perspective?
What is interesting is how quickly a single bank note spills into headlines across Central Europe. The same Kendrick statement appeared in the Polish, Slovak, and Czech markets, often with optimistic framing along the lines of "the worst is behind bitcoin." This is exactly the moment when it makes sense to slow down: a reader in the region sees a strong headline, but the core itself is a conditional forecast dependent on the moves of the US Treasury.
Charliedesk does not judge this thesis as right or wrong. We record it, attribute it to its source, and keep it for review. By the end of 2026 it will be clear whether the scenario played out.
What to watch with this type of forecast?
- Whether the Treasury will actually maintain the increased volume of buybacks, or whether it is a one-off move.
- Whether the "bottom" around $65,500 will hold, or be broken.
- Whether the optimism of the big players (BlackRock, Fidelity) will be confirmed by specific, verifiable statements, and not just media framing.
These are not trading instructions. It is a list of verifiable points against which anyone can later check for themselves how much sense the forecast made.