Standard Chartered has predicted that Bitcoin (BTC) will likely break above $88,500 this weekend following a strong performance in the tech sector.

The bank’s Global Head of Digital Assets Research, Geoff Kendrick, shared these expectations in an exclusive with BeInCrypto.

What Standard Chartered Says About Bitcoin This Weekend

In an email to BeInCrypto, Kendrick pointed to recent price action among major technology stocks, including Microsoft, as an indicator of Bitcoin’s short-term trajectory.

“Strongest performers were MSFT and BTC. Same again so for today in Bitcoin spot and tech futures,” Kendrick said.

He explained that a decisive break above the critical $85,000 level appears likely post-US non-farm payrolls. The Standard Chartered executive explained that such an outcome would pave the way for a return to Wednesday’s pre-tariff level of $88,500.

However, China’s retaliatory tariffs could increase market uncertainty, driving prices down in the short term. This volatility might dampen investor confidence, overshadowing any weekend gains.

Kendrick’s assertions come ahead of the much-anticipated US employment report, Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP). The report would present a comprehensive labor market update, including jobs added, the unemployment rate, and wage growth.

A strong report could bolster faith in the economy, particularly if it comes in higher than the previous reading of 151,000 jobs. This is more so if accompanied by a steady 4.1% unemployment rate. Such an outcome could curb crypto gains if the dollar rallies.

Conversely, a disappointing tally, potentially below the median forecast of 140,000 jobs with unemployment ticking beyond 4.1%, could ignite recession worries. This would send investors flocking to Bitcoin and crypto.

Standard Chartered may be pivoting to the latter outcome, with Kendrick emphasizing Bitcoin’s growing role as a key asset.

“Bitcoin is proving itself to be the best of tech upside when stocks go up and also as a hedge in multiple scenarios…I argued that Bitcoin trades more like tech stocks than it does gold most of the time. At other times, and structurally, Bitcoin is useful as a TradFi hedge,” he added.

Standard Chartered has increasingly highlighted Bitcoin’s strategic importance within financial markets. The bank recently identified Bitcoin and Avalanche (AVAX) as likely beneficiaries of a potential post-Liberation Day crypto surge. BeInCrypto reported the forecast, which now aligns with the latest one, that institutional investors could be preparing for a market upswing.

Additionally, the bank has positioned Bitcoin as a growing hedge against inflation. It argued that its limited supply and decentralized nature make it an attractive alternative to traditional safe-haven assets.

Standard Chartered Calls to HODL Bitcoin

Amid Bitcoin’s growing role in traditional finance (TradFi), Kendrick advised investors to maintain their holdings.

“Over the last 36 hours, I think we can also add ‘US isolation’ hedge to the list of Bitcoin uses,” he added.

This suggests that Bitcoin could serve as a protective asset in geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty. 

Meanwhile, the BTC/USDT daily chart shows a critical technical setup, with Bitcoin’s price currently trading around $82,643. A former support level of $85,000 now stands as resistance, limiting the pioneer crypto’s upside potential. The supply zone near $86,508 adds further selling pressure.

On the downside, a key demand zone between $77,500 and $80,708 provides support. Despite price consolidation, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is forming higher lows, indicating sustained growing momentum and a potential reversal.

If BTC successfully reclaims $85,000, it could trigger a move toward $87,480. However, to confirm the continuation of the uptrend, BTC must record a daily candlestick close above the midline of the supply zone at $86,508.

The bullish volume profile (blue) supports this thesis, showing that bulls are waiting to interact with the Bitcoin price above the midline of the supply zone.

Failure to breach the immediate resistance at $85,000 might lead to a retest of the demand zone, potentially breaking lower. In such a directional bias, a break and close below the midline of this zone at $79,186 could exacerbate the downtrend.

After a surge in Bitcoin spot ETF inflows on April 2, yesterday’s market action painted a different picture as institutional investors began offloading BTC holdings.

Despite this retreat, futures traders remain confident, with open interest climbing and funding rates staying positive. However, the options market tells a different story, with traders showing less conviction in sustained upward momentum. As a key batch of BTC options nears expiration, all eyes are on how the market will respond to this divergence.

BTC Spot ETFs See $99.86 Million Outflow as Institutional Confidence Wavers

Institutional investors withdrew liquidity from BTC spot ETFs yesterday, resulting in a net outflow of $99.86 million.

This abrupt shift followed April 2’s $767 million net inflow, which ended a three-day streak of outflows. It signaled a brief return of institutional confidence before momentum quickly reversed.

Grayscale’s ETF GBTC saw the highest amount of fund exits, with a daily net outflow of $60.20 million, bringing its net assets under management to $22.60 billion.

However, BlackRock’s ETF IBIT stood out, witnessing a daily net inflow of $65.25 million. At press time, Bitcoin Spot ETFs have a total net asset value of $92.18 billion, plummeting 5% over the past 24 hours.  

Bitcoin Derivatives Split as Traders Bet on Both Sides of the Market

Meanwhile, the derivatives market remains split—Bitcoin futures traders are leaning bullish, backed by rising open interest and positive funding rates. In contrast, options traders appear more hesitant, signaling uncertainty in the market’s next move.

At press time, Bitcoin futures open is $52.63 billion, up 2% over the past day. The coin’s funding rate remains positive and currently stands at 0.0084%.

Notably, amid the broader market dip, BTC’s price has noted a minor 0.34% decline during the review period.

When BTC’s price declines while its futures open interest rises and funding rates remain positive, it suggests that traders are increasing leveraged positions despite the price drop. The positive funding rate indicates that long positions remain dominant, meaning traders expect a rebound. 

However, caution is advised. If BTC’s price continues to fall, it could trigger long liquidations as overleveraged positions get squeezed.

In contrast, the options market tells a different story, with traders showing less conviction in sustained upward momentum. This is evident from the high demand for put options. 

According to Deribit, the notional value of BTC options expiring today is $2.17 billion, with a put-to-call ratio of 1.24. This confirms the prevalence of sales options among market participants. 

This divide between futures and options traders suggests a tug-of-war between bullish speculation and cautious hedging, potentially leading to heightened volatility in the near term.

The highly anticipated Pectra upgrade will launch on the Ethereum (ETH) mainnet on May 7, 2025, after overcoming a series of technical challenges and delays in the testnet phase. 

Ethereum developers announced the date during the All Core Developers Consensus (ACDC) meeting on April 3, 2025.

Pectra Upgrade Countdown Begins

The upgrade was initially slated for a tentative mainnet launch on April 30. However, Ethereum developers have postponed the launch by one week.

“We’ll go ahead and lock in May 7 for Pectra on mainnet,” Ethereum Foundation researcher Alex Stokes said.

In preparation for this, Stokes confirmed that client releases will be made available by April 21, ensuring that all users have the necessary updates and tools ahead of the mainnet launch. On April 23, a detailed blog post outlining the Pectra mainnet will be published.

The Pectra upgrade will introduce 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) to enhance various aspects of the network. Notably, three EIPs are dedicated to improving the validator experience. 

The first is EIP-7251. This will increase the staking limit for validators from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH per validator. This change aims to enhance capital efficiency for large stakers and staking pools.

“This simplifies the staking experience, allowing users to manage multiple validators under one node instead of several,” an analyst remarked.

Moreover, EIP-7002 introduces execution-layer triggerable withdrawals, giving validators more control. Meanwhile, EIP-6110 reduces the deposit processing delay from about 9 hours to just 13 minutes.

The upgrade will also include EIP-7702, a major step toward account abstraction. It allows Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) to gain smart contract functionality while maintaining simplicity. This enables features like transaction batching, gas sponsorship (where third parties pay fees), passkey-based authentication, spending controls, and asset recovery mechanisms.

Finally, the upgrade increases blob capacity through EIP-7691. In addition, EIP-7623 helps manage the increased bandwidth requirements. These updates aim to make Ethereum more scalable, efficient, and user-friendly.

It is worth noting that the road to the mainnet launch has not been without hurdles. Two previous tests on the Holesky and Sepolia test networks failed to finalize properly. However, Pectra achieved full finalization on the Hoodi testnet on March 26, marking a significant milestone toward the successful deployment of the upgrade.

Despite the technical progress, ETH continues to face market challenges. 

Data from BeInCrypto shows that ETH dropped 4.8% over the past week, with weekly losses extending to 17.1%. At the time of writing, the altcoin was trading at $1,822, reflecting a small daily gain of 0.8%.