Key Takeaways
- Standard Chartered remains bullish despite Bitcoin’s price falling below $61,500.
- It comes as Strategy’s unrealized losses have reached a record $10.8 billion.
- Market divided over what’s next for Bitcoin.
Bitcoin’s price briefly dropped below $61,500 this week, pushing Strategy deeper into record unrealized losses and leaving more than half of all Bitcoin in circulation underwater.
However, despite the mass selloff, Standard Chartered’s Geoffrey Kendrick said he still expects the crypto to reach $100,000 by the end of the year.
The crash, driven by ETF outflows and a sharp unwind in leveraged futures positions, has divided analysts over whether Bitcoin is approaching a bottom or facing further downside.
Bitcoin Price Drops Below $61,500
Bitcoin’s price briefly fell below $61,500 on Thursday, extending losses after a sharp decline that began in late May.
Over the past month, more than $635 billion in liquidations have reportedly occurred in the crypto industry.
Market intelligence platform Santiment highlighted how the sharp selloff had forced “many traders out of their positions as prices rapidly declined,” Santiment wrote on X.
The firm added that Bitcoin open interest fell roughly 25% over four days to $23.2 billion, the lowest level since early April.
Separately, blockchain analytics account Watcher.Guru reported that “over 50% of all Bitcoin in circulation is now held at an unrealized loss.”
Standard Chartered Maintains $100,000 Bitcoin Price Target
Despite the sharp decline, Geoffrey Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, maintained his forecast that Bitcoin will reach $100,000 by the end of the year.
“The timing of the sale was a shame,” Kendrick wrote in a note to clients after Strategy disclosed a bitcoin sale earlier this week.
“This week has been painful in crypto. There is really no other way of putting it.”
Kendrick acknowledged the risk of additional selling pressure should Bitcoin fall below key support levels, but argued that much of it has already been unwound.
“When we look back at the end of 2026 with Bitcoin at $100k, we will say this was the buying zone we all wanted,” he said.
His comments come as Bitcoin revisits its 200-week moving average for the first time since 2023.
Famed crypto influencer David Hoffman highlighted that the last time it went any lower was in 2022.
“Bitcoin is right on the 200-week moving average,” Hoffman wrote on X.
“The only time BTC went below it was post Terra/3AC/FTX – the worst contagion event in crypto.”
Strategy Faces Record Unrealized Losses
The decline has also intensified attention on Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings.
The Kobeissi Letter wrote on X that Strategy is experiencing the largest unrealized loss in its history, claiming that a bear market was an “understatement.”
“MicroStrategy, $MSTR, is now facing its biggest unrealized loss in history, at -$10.8 billion,” it wrote.
“In other words, after 6 years of buying Bitcoin, the company is now down -17% on its position.”
It added that since Strategy sold 32 bitcoin at $77,135 per coin, the value of its remaining holdings had fallen sharply.
“…their positions has lost -$11.8 billion in value.”
Saylor Downplays Fears
While investors focused on Bitcoin’s decline and Strategy’s paper losses, Saylor argued that recent price weakness reflects broader capital allocation.
“Capital markets are funding the AI buildout at historic scale: $400B over 6 months,” Saylor wrote.
“Bitcoin ETFs have seen ~$4B of outflows since May 14, pressuring BTC,” he added. “This is a capital rotation, not a Bitcoin impairment.”
Strategy Chief Executive Phong Le also sought to focus attention toward regulatory developments.
“While markets focus on short-term portfolio adjustments, leaders in the US government are laying the foundation for long-term leadership in Bitcoin and digital assets,” Le wrote on X.
Bears Warn Downturn May Not Be Over
Not all market participants believe the recent selloff has run its course.
Jacob King, a long-time Bitcoin critic, argued that concerns about Bitcoin falling to $60,000 may underestimate the risks facing the market.
“If people are worried about Bitcoin crashing to $60,000, just wait until the news gets out that Saylor will be forced to liquidate 81,000 BTC to cover Strategy’s liabilities,” King wrote on X.
“The bear market is still in early stages,” he said. “We are still dangerously overvalued.”
The comments come just days after Peter Schiff predicted that Bitcoin’s price could fall below $20,000.
In response to Saylor’s recent comments, Schiff wrote:
“This isn’t volatility, it’s a collapse in price as investors dump Bitcoin to avoid larger losses or to seek out better investment opportunities.”
Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
