Geoff Kendrick of Standard Chartered has lowered the bank's end-2026 Bitcoin price target from $150,000 to $100,000 and cautions that BTC could briefly fall toward $50,000 before recovering. The revised outlook is linked to sustained U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF outflows, softer macroeconomic conditions and delayed expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts.

On Thursday, February 12, Standard Chartered lowered its 2026 Bitcoin price target from $150,000 to $100,000, after previously cutting it from $300,000 in December. The bank pointed to sustained ETF outflows, a weaker macroeconomic outlook and delayed Federal Reserve rate cuts, with its analyst warning of further price capitulation and a potential drop toward $50,000 before stabilization.

On February 12, 2026, CryptoQuant analyst J.A Maartunn reported a 11.16% drop in Bitcoin mining difficulty after the latest network adjustment, the biggest negative move since July 2021. Bitcoin trades 46% below its $126,198.07 all-time high, yet gained 1.45% over 24 hours to $68,334.21.

TechGaged's latest analysis compares Bitcoin's market size with gold, which is estimated to have a roughly $35 trillion market capitalization as a leading store-of-value asset. Under a base-case parity model, the research indicates Bitcoin would need to trade near $1.78 million per coin to match gold's scale, with alternative scenarios ranging from about $1.43 million to $2.03 million depending on gold's total valuation.

Bitcoin traded sideways for most of the week after a volatile month of broader crypto market weakness, slipping just over 10%. Veteran analyst Peter Brandt warned the price could extend its decline toward $42,000, while other market participants pointed to strong institutional buying during the recent dip and outlined upside targets up to $85,000. At press time, Bitcoin changed hands at $67,711, showing a 1.59% gain in the past 24 hours.

Binance completed converting its Secure Asset Fund for Users into bitcoin, finishing the $1 billion shift first announced last month. A final buy of 4,545 BTC on Thursday took SAFU to 15,000 BTC, with the fund valued around $1.005 billion at a $67,000 bitcoin price and completed within 30 days.

On February 12, 2026, Binance finalized converting its SAFU stablecoin reserves into Bitcoin with a closing purchase of 4,545 BTC. The fund now holds 15,000 BTC, valued about $1,005,000,000 at a BTC price of $67,000. The move completes a previously announced $1 billion allocation into BTC.

Gold proponent and long-time Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff forecasts that Bitcoin could drop toward $10,000 and suspects that support at that price may not hold. He also argues that MicroStrategy would struggle if Bitcoin fell to $8,000 over the next four years and criticizes major financial TV networks for what he views as overly bullish Bitcoin coverage.