Standard Chartered throws its weight behind Bitcoin, saying it will break 100k USD by year-end—claiming that the “Strategy” selling of coins is only a “communication issue,” and that it’s an excellent buying opportunity right now.

Bitcoin whale sell-offs spark market panic? In response to Strategy’s (formerly MicroStrategy) recent coin-selling moves, Standard Chartered has stepped in to steady market sentiment. Geoffrey Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Assets Research at Standard Chartered, emphasized that this is purely a “communication issue” during a corporate transition period and does not indicate deterioration in its balance sheet. Standard Chartered reiterated its target for Bitcoin to break $100k by the end of 2026, and even called the current time an “excellent buying opportunity.”

(Background recap: Standard Chartered again gave a trade call on Uniswap: UNI surged 13% in a single day, bullish on cooperation between DeFi and traditional finance)
(Additional context: Standard Chartered: “The crypto winter is over”! The three major dump selling pressure resistances are now fully dissipating; reiterates Bitcoin will hit $100k by year-end)

Table of contents

Toggle

• Ditch the “never sell” myth—Strategy transition to STRC preferred stock as endorsement
• Standard Chartered: Selling pressure is just noise; effective communication will eliminate panic
• Wall Street bulls vs. bears are split: build a base or two-way risk?

Recently, Strategy Inc. (formerly MicroStrategy; stock ticker: MSTR), the largest publicly listed Bitcoin holding company globally, broke the past “never sell” myth and carried out a rare Bitcoin sell-off, causing quite a stir in the crypto market. However, Standard Chartered, a major traditional finance player, has taken a completely different optimistic view.

According to the latest report published by overseas media on July 10, 2026, Geoffrey Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Assets Research at Standard Chartered, clearly stated in his newest report that the market has overinterpreted Strategy’s coin-selling behavior; in fact, this is only a “Communication challenge,” not a problem with the company’s fundamentals. Kendrick even labeled the current Bitcoin price of about $64,000 as a “Screaming buy” and maintained his forecast that Bitcoin will rise to $100k by the end of 2026.

Ditch the “never sell” myth—Strategy transition to STRC preferred stock endorsement

To understand the logic behind this wave of sell-offs, you must first grasp Strategy’s current financial situation. Data show that Strategy currently holds as many as 843,775 BTC, accounting for more than 4% of Bitcoin’s total supply. From 2020 to mid-2025, the company’s mNAV (enterprise value / Bitcoin holdings value) was greater than 1, enabling it to purchase more Bitcoin by issuing stock and creating a flywheel effect.

However, as mNAV gradually approached 1, this old expansion model effectively failed. In response, Strategy shifted strategies and began using its massive Bitcoin reserves as credit backing for STRC perpetual preferred stock. This preferred stock mechanism, with a notional value of about $10 billion, focuses on an annual coupon of 12% with interest paid once every half month, making it the company’s largest financial instrument right now.

The turmoil began on June 1 this year, when Strategy first disclosed that it sold 32 BTC. The market’s belief in its “never sell” narrative was shattered, causing the STRC share price to deviate significantly from par value, at one point falling to as low as $71.25. Then, last week, the company went further by selling 3,588 BTC (worth about $216 million) to pay preferred stock dividends and top up reserve funds, drawing strong market attention.

Standard Chartered: Selling pressure is just noise; effective communication will remove panic

On Strategy’s shift from buyer to seller, Kendrick believes this is actually the necessary path for a company to mature. He pointed out that the old slogan of “never selling Bitcoin” seriously constrained the company’s financial flexibility. It is completely reasonable for Strategy, from time to time, to monetize Bitcoin to raise up to $1.25 billion in reserve funds.

Kendrick emphasized that Strategy’s USD reserves for paying dividends are still as high as $2.55 billion, enough to cover demand for the next 17.4 months. As long as the company can effectively communicate this new strategy, demonstrating a credit commitment to the market similar to a central bank’s “Whatever it takes,” the STRC share price will quickly rebound toward the $100 par value. Once market confidence returns, the company would in practice have little need to sell Bitcoin again; the recent selling pressure is merely “noise” and will not change Bitcoin’s long-term bullish trend.

Wall Street bulls vs. bears diverge: build a base or two-way risk?

However, Wall Street analysts still disagree on Strategy’s new strategy. JPMorgan analysts believe that formalizing the sell-coin policy means Strategy acts as both the market’s biggest buyer and biggest seller at the same time, introducing “avoidable two-way risk.”

By contrast, Zach Pandl, Research Head at asset manager giant Grayscale, supported Standard Chartered’s viewpoint. He argued that appropriately selling Bitcoin helps strengthen Strategy’s balance sheet, which not only makes operations more robust, but in the long run also helps Bitcoin find a sturdier bottom. Amid the battle between bulls and bears, whether Strategy can properly handle this “communication crisis” will be one of the key variables that drives Bitcoin’s near-term direction.