Key Points
- Bitcoin may trend upwards due to the liquidation of highly leveraged positions before the halving.
- Standard Chartered Bank maintains its end-of-2024 target price levels of $150,000 for Bitcoin and $8,000 for Ether.
Bitcoin, together with the rest of the cryptocurrency market, is expected to trend higher following the liquidation of highly leveraged positions before the halving. This was the observation made by an analyst on Tuesday.
Pre-halving Leveraged Positions
The week leading up to the recent Bitcoin halving saw a significant amount of leveraged long positions being flushed out. This resulted in Bitcoin falling to a recent low below the $60,000 level.
However, an analyst note from Standard Chartered Bank led by Geoffrey Kendrick suggests that current market conditions are characterized by lower leverage. This environment could potentially facilitate the appreciation of Bitcoin’s price.
Outlook for Bitcoin and Ethereum
“We believe the worst is over and a less leveraged digital assets market can now re-trend higher,” Kendrick said. The recent sell-off removed a significant amount of leveraged longs, with over $261 million of Bitcoin longs liquidated on April 13 alone.
Kendrick also reiterated Standard Chartered’s end-of-2024 target price levels of $150,000 for Bitcoin, and $8,000 for Ethereum (ETH).
In the past 24 hours, Bitcoin increased 0.5% and was trading for $66,700. Ethereum posted a 0.8% rise to $3,234 in the same period.
The total cryptocurrency market cap increased by 1.5% in the last 24 hours, standing at $2.59 trillion. The GM 30 Index, which represents a selection of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, increased by 0.83% to 138.50 in the past 24 hours.