The price of bitcoin (BTC) could balloon to $500,000 by 2028, lifted by increased investor access and diminishing volatility that will help keep it serving as a unique hedge against issues plaguing traditional finance, according to Standard Chartered.

The largest cryptocurrency is likely to become less volatile as the year-old U.S. exchange-traded fund (ETF) market matures, Geoffrey Kendrick, the global head of digital assets research, wrote in a note.

Access to BTC is improving under the Trump administration and institutional inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs are set to keep on growing, he wrote. The two influences are set to raise bitcoin's share of an optimized two-asset portfolio with gold, which “should lead to price appreciation longer-term as the portfolio continues to move towards their optimal/logical state,” Kendrick wrote.

This is “enough to drive Bitcoin to $500,000 before Trump leaves office.”

The bank’s year-end price target for the cryptocurrency is $200,000. The 2026 target is $300,000.

Bitcoin is currently trading around $98,000, and the bitcoin-gold ratio has recently hit its lowest level since mid-November as the precious metal surged amid ongoing concerns of a U.S.-China trade war and increased Chinese demand.

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