British banking giant Standard Chartered believes that the price of Bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency, could soar all the way to $250,000 next year, according to a recent report by CNBC. At press time, Bitcoin is trading at $67,179.
Will Bitcoin ETFs keep attracting inflows?
The uber-bullish price target will be achievable if inflows into the newly introduced Bitcoin exchange-traded funds remain robust. The bank's mid-point estimate is $75 billion.
Exceptionally strong demand for Bitcoin ETFs has been the main bullish narrative behind the most recent rally that has managed to propel the Bitcoin price to a recent all-time high of $73,737.
According to prominent ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, BlackRock and Fidelity's Bitcoin ETFs have made it to the top five ETFs by yearly inflows.
Is Ethereum ETF approval on the cards?
At the same time, the bank does not rule out the possible approval of a spot-based Ethereum ETF later this spring. If the SEC greenlights such a product, the largest alternative cryptocurrency could nearly double its price by the end of the year.
According to CoinGecko data, Ethereum is currently trading slightly below the $3,500 level after shedding 3.7% over the past 24 hours.
Back in January, as reported by U.Today, Standard Chartered predicted that Ether could reclaim the $4,000 level if the SEC were to approve a spot ETF. However, the altcoin managed to surge above this level earlier this March even without this catalyst.
It is worth noting that the bank also believes that the price of the main Bitcoin competitor could skyrocket to a whopping $14,000 next year.
With that being said, the odds of an Ethereum ETF being approved this year appear to be very slim, with the SEC facing more political pressure not to approve ETFs for other cryptocurrencies.