Bitcoin sinks 70% in Standard Chartered's List of Possible Upsets

In Standard Chartered List of Possible 2023 Upsets,Bitcoin sinks further 70% in Standard Chartered List of Possible Upsets.

Standard Chartered believes that the bull market is most likely to have a rude awakening in 2023 due to the fact that the bull market is mostly over, as per Bloomberg speculators cleaving to the view that the rout is mostly over.

A further plunge of 70% to $5,000 next year is one of the surprise scenarios that markets may be under-pricing, according to Eric Robertsen, Global Head of Research at the bank.

Robertsen said that demand could be moved from Bitcoin as a digital version of gold to the real thing, spurring a 30% rally in the yellow metal.

There is a possible outcome that involves a reversal of interest-rate hikes as economies struggle, more bankruptcies and a collapse in investor confidence in digital assets, according to Robertsen.

He stressed that he wasn't making predictions but instead adumbrating scenarios that are materially outside of the current market consensus.

The question of what lies ahead for digital assets has never been more difficult to answer after the collapse of Sam Bankman- Fried's FTX exchange and sister trading house Alameda Research. The blowup threatens to topple more companies and buffet token prices because of the tremors.

Much of the bad news may already be reflected in a more than 60% plunge inBitcoin and a top 100 tokens over the past year.

Sean Farrell, head of digital asset strategy at Fundstrat, wrote in a note Friday that the base case is that most forced selling is over, but investors might not be compensated for the market risk incurred in the immediate term.

Farrell pointed out the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Digital Currency Group, the parent company of the embattled criptocurrency brokerage Genesis. Creditors to Genesis are trying to keep the brokerage from falling into bankruptcy.

Robertsen of Standard Chartered said the surprise market scenario of gold surging could see the precious metals scale $2,250 an ounce.

Nicholas Frappell, global head of institutional markets at ABC Refinery in Sydney, said that gold will benefit from the problems in cripto, with a decline in confidence in the coin ecosystem.

The sector of criptocurrencies continues to retrench. The latest layoffs to hit the industry is due to Bybit's plan to cut its workforce by 30%.

More pain may be ahead: 94% of respondents to Bloomberg's MLIV Pulse survey think that more blowups will follow the bankruptcy of FTX as years of easy credit give way to a tougher business and market environment.

The moment, the price of the digital currency is fairly steady. The largest virtual coin rose as much as 1.8% on Monday, and was trading at a three-week high of $17,340 as of 2: 35 p.m. in Tokyo. Other tokens such as Polkadot, Solana and Ether also gained.