By Elizabeth Howcroft LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - Top cryptocurrency bitcoin could reach $100,000 by the end of 2024, Standard Chartered said on Monday, saying that the so-called "crypto winter" is over. Bitcoin could gain from factors including recent turmoil in the banking sector, a stabilisation of risk assets as the U.S. Federal Reserve ends its rate-hiking cycle and improved profitability of crypto mining, Standard Chartered's head of digital assets research Geoff Kendrick said in a note. "While sources of uncertainty remain, we think the pathway to the USD 100,000 level is becoming clearer," Kendrick wrote. Bitcoin has rallied so far this year, rising above $30,000 in April for the first time in ten months. It gains represent a partial recovery after trillions of dollars were wiped from the crypto sector in 2022, as central banks hiked interest rates and a string of crypto firms imploded. Predictions of sky-high valuations have been commonplace during bitcoin's past rallies. A Citi analyst said in November that bitcoin could climb as high as $318,000 by the end of. It closed last year down about 65% at $16,500. (Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; editing by Tom Wilson and Louise Heavens) ((Elizabeth.Howcroft@thomsonreuters.com; +44 02075427104;))
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