The Daily: Standard Chartered slashes 2025 bitcoin target, PNC rolls out direct BTC trading for high-net-worth clients, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Tuesday! Bitcoin jumped back above $93K this morning despite calls that an expected Fed rate cut on Wednesday was already priced in, with Chair Jerome Powell's guidance tomorrow the key catalyst for what happens next.

In today's newsletter, Standard Chartered slashes its 2025 bitcoin target, PNC rolls out direct BTC trading for high-net-worth clients, Bitwise sees crypto growing 10–20x in the next decade, and more.

Meanwhile, Stripe and Paradigm's payments-focused blockchain Tempo launches its public testnet. Plus, privacy-focused blockchain project Octra is set to hold a $20 million public token sale on Sonar at a $200 million valuation.

P.S. Don't forget to check out The Funding, a biweekly rundown of crypto VC trends. It's a great read — and just like The Daily, it's free to subscribe!

'Not a crypto winter, just a cold breeze': Standard Chartered halves 2025 bitcoin target to $100K, but keeps long-term bull case

Standard Chartered halved its 2025 bitcoin target to $100,000 and pushed its $500,000 call out two years to 2030, saying recent market action had forced a recalibration.

• "Our previous near-term targets are wrong," Global Head of Digital Assets Research Geoffrey Kendrick wrote in a Tuesday note.
• Under the updated path, the bank now expects bitcoin to reach $150,000 in 2026, $225,000 in 2027, $300,000 in 2028, and $400,000 in 2029.
• Highlighting ETFs and DATs as the two forces behind bitcoin's prior surge, Kendrick argued corporate digital asset treasury buying is effectively over, removing one of those key demand pillars.
• He added that ETF flows have replaced the halving cycle as bitcoin's primary price driver, with slowing allocations explaining the recent drawdown.
• Despite the trimming, Kendrick maintained a structurally bullish view based on portfolio optimization versus gold and growing institutional access.
• Kendrick also pushed back on the idea that the current drawdown marks the start of another "crypto winter," arguing it's just a "cold breeze" rather than a structural break.

PNC rolls out direct bitcoin trading for high-net-worth clients through Coinbase tie-up

PNC Bank launched spot bitcoin trading for private-banking clients via an integration with Coinbase's institutional trading and custody platform, becoming one of the first major U.S. lenders to let customers buy and sell the asset directly from their existing investment accounts.

• Executives said the move was driven less by near-term demand and more to keep high-net-worth clients from shifting their crypto activity to external platforms.
• PNC plans to expand direct trading to institutions, nonprofits, endowments, and foundations next year, broadening its crypto footprint beyond passive ETFs.
• The rollout adds to Wall Street's accelerating shift into digital assets, following indirect crypto access moves from Bank of America and Vanguard.

Bitwise CIO sees crypto growing 10–20x in the next decade, citing SEC Chair's $68 trillion onchain forecast

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said crypto is positioned for 10–20x growth over the next decade "without breaking a sweat," pointing to tokenization, stablecoins, and bitcoin as major adoption trends.

• Hougan cited SEC Chair Paul Atkins's recent forecast that all U.S. equities will move onchain — a $68 trillion market compared to tokenization's current $670 million — as evidence of crypto's outsized growth runway.
• However, he argued that no one can reliably predict which chains will ultimately win, making broad market-cap-weighted index exposure a safer way to capture long-term upside in his view.
• Hougan said index funds will become a "big deal in 2026" shortly before the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index ETF (ticker BITW) began trading on NYSE Arca on Tuesday.

HashKey seeks up to $215 million from Hong Kong IPO

HashKey launched its Hong Kong IPO on Tuesday, seeking up to $215 million and marking the first public listing attempt by a dedicated crypto exchange in the region.

• The firm priced shares between HK$5.95 and HK$6.95 ($0.76 and $0.89) and plans to begin trading on Dec. 17 under stock code 3887.
• HashKey said it will channel most of the proceeds into tech upgrades, market expansion, and new ecosystem partnerships as it works to scale its licensed platform.
• The IPO lands amid Hong Kong's tightening but supportive regulatory push, including new VASP and stablecoin regimes and rules allowing shared order books to boost liquidity.

22-year-old pleads guilty to money laundering for $263 million crypto syndicate

A 22-year-old California resident pleaded guilty to laundering $3.5 million for a social-engineering syndicate that stole $263 million in crypto.

• Prosecutors said Evan Tangeman converted stolen bitcoin into cash to secure rental homes under fake names, helping the group hide its operations.
• Tangeman is the ninth defendant to plead guilty as the investigation widens, with a new indictment adding three more suspects to the case who were recently arrested.

In the next 24 hours

• The U.S. Federal Reserve's latest interest rate decision is due at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday — a 25 bps cut is forecast.
• Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will speak at 5:45 a.m. ECB President Christine Lagarde follows at 5:55 a.m. The FOMC press conference is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
• Linea and IOTA are among the crypto projects set for token unlocks.
• Global Blockchain Show gets underway in Abu Dhabi.

Never miss a beat with The Block's daily digest of the most influential events happening across the digital asset ecosystem.