LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - The value of top cryptocurrency bitcoin could reach $50,000 this year and $120,000 by the end of 2024 Standard Chartered (STAN.L) said on Monday, predicting the recent jump in its price could encourage bitcoin "miners" to hoard more of the supply.
"Increased miner profitability per BTC (bitcoin) mined means they can sell less while maintaining cash inflows, reducing net BTC supply and pushing BTC prices higher," Kendrick said in a report.
Bitcoin's price has leapt 80% since the start of the year but its current level of just over $30,200 is still less than half the $69,000 it peaked back in November 2021.
"It is the equivalent of miners reducing the amount of bitcoins they sell per day to just 180-270 from 900 currently."
"Over a year, that would reduce miner selling from 328,500 to a range of 65,700-98,550 – a reduction in net BTC supply of roughly 250,000 bitcoins a year."
Persons:
Geoff Kendrick, Kendrick, Marc Jones, Amanda Cooper, Sharon Singleton
Organizations:
Chartered, BTC, Kendrick, Citi, Thomson