Standard Chartered Says Bitcoin Could Hit $100K By Year-End In Its ‘Shallowest’ 4-Year Cycle Ever Amid Rally To $72K

Bitcoin (BTC) breached $72,000 for the first time since June on Thursday morning, and according to Standard Chartered’s Kendrick Geoffrey, the apex cryptocurrency could be on track to hit $100,000 by the end of the year, marking its “shallowest” four-year cycle to date. gained nearly 12% in the last 24 hours to hit an intra-day high of over $72,400 before paring gains to around $72,100, according to CoinGecko. It was the top trending ticker on Stocktwits at the time of writing.Retail sentiment around the apex cryptocurrency improved to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘neutral’ territory over the past day, and chatter rose to ‘high’ from ‘normal’ levels.Standard Chartered Sees $100,000 Bitcoin By Year-EndKendrick said Bitcoin's recent drawdown may have already established a floor for the current cycle. The cryptocurrency's latest decline saw a peak-to-trough drawdown of about 54%, according to Standard Chartered, making it the “shallowest” four-year cycle so far. Previous Bitcoin cycles have typically been marked by substantially deeper declines.“With the 12-month mark beyond the all-time high approaching, four-year cycle theorists will also agree that the low is in,” Kendrick wrote in an email to clients.Bitcoin’s price reached an all-time high of over $126,000 in October last year before entering a prolonged decline. Despite Thursday's rally, the cryptocurrency remains 43% below both that record and its 2026 high of $94,820 reached in mid-January. “Investors should now be positioning for a move to USD100,000 by year-end 2026,” Kendrick wrote.Trump’s CLARITY Act Push Adds To Crypto MomentumThe latest rally in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies followed the U.S. Treasury  plans to increase the size of buyback support and renewed attention on crypto legislation in Washington.President Donald Trump urged Congress to pass legislation establishing clearer rules for the digital asset industry following a  with cryptocurrency executives on Wednesday. Trump specifically called for lawmakers to pass a “fair version of the Clarity Act,” which has faced delays in the Senate.The legislation, however, remains politically contentious. Many Democrats, along with some Republicans, have raised concerns about provisions related to political officials and their ability to profit from cryptocurrency ventures.