Crypto Market Weekly: Standard Chartered’s $100K BTC Target, Robinhood Chain Mania, and Circle’s Bank Charter

The crypto market this week was shaped by bullish events such as returning ETF inflows and Bitcoin (BTC) moving to $64,000. But three other key events: Standard Chartered’s bullish forecast, hype around Robinhood Chain, and Circle receiving a bank charter also topped discussions.

Standard Chartered Reiterates $100K Bitcoin Target as Crypto Market Rebounds

Standard Chartered analyst Geoff Kendrick has reiterated his bullish forecast on BTC, saying Bitcoin will reach $100,000 by the end of 2026.

The analyst noted that the current price of Bitcoin of $64,000 “is a screaming buy” because the fears around Strategy selling BTC will gradually ease as the crypto market comes to terms with the fact that the company has changed from a net buyer to an occasional seller.

Kendricks’ remarks come after Strategy sold $216 million worth of Bitcoin in the week between June 29 and July 3.

But that sale did cause Bitcoin price to drop, and it has instead moved from $61,394 on July 6 to $64,300 on July 11.

The above Bitcoin daily chart also shows that Bitcoin has been on an uptrend for 11 straight days, moving from $57,000 on July 1 to $64,000 at the time of writing.

Robinhood Chain Surprises Crypto Market as DEX Volumes Surpass $1B

Data from DeFiLlama shows that the Robinhood Chain has seen $1.2 billion in DEX volumes between July 10 and July 11.

Robinhood Chain is now pulling in more volume than Hyperliquid despite launching on July 1, making it one of the fastest-growing networks in the crypto market. The rising volume numbers come from increased trading activity around meme coins created on Robinhood Chain.

But this growth has not boded well for Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) stock because it dropped by 2.73% on July 10 to close trading at $111.

Cathie Wood also appears unconvinced that HOOD stock will rise because of the meme coin mania on Robinhood Chain, with ARK Invest selling $9.8 million worth of Robinhood shares on July 9.

CRCL Stock Rises as Circle Secures OCC Bank Charter

CRCL stock price increased by 4.93% on July 10 to close trading at $66. The gains came after Circle received approval from the OCC to set up a national trust bank that will be known as the Circle National Trust.

Circle’s CEO, Jeremy Allaire, said that this bank is going to bring more institutions into the crypto market.

The approval comes after ARK Invest analyst Lorenzo Valente said that the new OUSD stablecoin poses no threat to Circle’s USDC because the latter will continue to dominate the crypto market’s liquidity.

However, Wolfe Research maintains an underperform rating while forecasting the price of CRCL stock will drop to $65.

Vitalik Buterin Unveils Ethereum’s Biggest Upgrade

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has said that Ethereum is getting ready for its “biggest overhaul,” where the developers are going to prioritize making sure that the network is resistant to quantum threats.

Buterin’s plan will be the biggest upgrade that Ethereum has seen since The Merge, and this is driving buying activity towards ETH.

The price of Ethereum has moved to the psychological resistance of $1,800 since Buterin made this announcement.

The looming Lean Ethereum upgrade has also caused an increase in institutional demand, with spot ETH ETFs recording the first weekly inflow of $84 million since May.