Standard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick Calls Bitcoin Cycle Low as Strategy Update Looms

Geoff Kendrick said it plainly. The analyst at Standard Chartered put out a call that the crypto winter is over, telling clients that digital asset prices have probably hit their lowest point in this cycle. Bold claim. And it landed right as the market braces for an update from Strategy on its Bitcoin purchases.

Kendrick’s timing is hard to ignore. Standard Chartered isn’t some fringe shop making noise for attention — it’s a major international bank, and when one of its analysts goes on record saying the bottom is in, people listen. The crypto market has been through a brutal stretch. Prices got hammered, sentiment cratered, and retail investors who bought near peaks watched their portfolios bleed for months. So when a name like Kendrick steps up and says the cycle low is likely behind us, it carries weight. Whether he’s right is a separate question. But the market is paying attention either way.

Strategy’s Bitcoin update is coming.

What Kendrick Actually Said

The call is pretty direct: crypto winter is over, prices have hit their cycle low. That’s the core of it. Kendrick didn’t hedge heavily — he said digital asset prices have “likely” hit their lowest point, which is about as close to a firm bottom call as analysts tend to get without putting a specific number on it. No precise price target came with the statement, at least not in what’s been shared publicly. Unclear whether Standard Chartered has issued a fuller research note with more detail, but the headline is the headline.

It’s worth sitting with what a “cycle low” call actually means. In crypto, cycles tend to be violent. The run-up, the collapse, the long grind sideways — it’s a pattern the market has seen before. Kendrick seems to think the grind is done. That’s an optimistic read, and it’s the kind of read that either ages really well or becomes an awkward footnote depending on what Bitcoin does over the next few months.

And the Strategy update makes this moment feel more loaded than usual.

Why the Strategy Bitcoin Update Matters

Strategy has become one of the most-watched institutional players in the Bitcoin space. Its approach to accumulating Bitcoin as a core treasury asset turned it into a kind of barometer for institutional conviction. When Strategy buys, the market tends to read it as a signal. When it slows down or pauses, people notice that too.

So an upcoming update on Bitcoin purchases from Strategy lands right in the middle of Kendrick’s bottom call — and that’s not nothing. If the update shows continued or expanded accumulation, it probably reinforces the idea that big institutional money isn’t running scared. It could basically confirm the sentiment Kendrick is putting out there. If the update is lighter than expected, or if there’s any sign of hesitation, that complicates the narrative fast.

See also: Strategy Sells Bitcoin to Fund Digital Credit Business Despite Saylors Hold Doctrine

The market is watching both things at once right now. Kendrick’s words on one side, Strategy’s actions on the other. Investors are trying to triangulate.

Institutional behavior in crypto has shifted a lot over the past few years. The early narrative was that big money would eventually validate the asset class — and to a meaningful degree, that’s happened. Companies holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets isn’t a novelty anymore. But it’s still a signal. Every major purchase announcement from a firm like Strategy gets parsed for what it says about where smart money thinks prices are headed.

Kendrick’s assertion fits into that broader picture. It’s not just a standalone analyst opinion — it’s a read from a bank that serves institutional clients, and it’s probably shaping how some of those clients are thinking about re-entering or sizing up positions.

Investor Sentiment at a Turning Point

Sentiment is a funny thing in crypto. It can flip fast. A market that felt hopeless six months ago can look like a buying opportunity in hindsight, and vice versa. The challenge is always figuring out which way you’re looking.

Right now, the mood seems cautiously optimistic. Kendrick’s call adds fuel to that. Investors who’ve been sitting on the sidelines — waiting for some kind of all-clear signal — might find this enough to start moving. Others will wait for the Strategy update before committing. Some will want to see Bitcoin hold certain price levels before they believe any bottom call.

See also: Galaxy Research Says Bitcoins Bear Market Floor Is Higher This Cycle

That’s basically how it goes. No single analyst call turns the market. But it can shift the conversation.

What’s clear is that the two events — Kendrick’s statement and the Strategy Bitcoin purchase update — are landing close together in a way that’s hard to treat as coincidence. Whether that combination ends up marking a genuine inflection point, or whether it just creates a brief burst of optimism before more chop, probably depends on what Strategy’s numbers actually show.

Kendrick said the winter is over. Strategy’s update is next.

Hub: Bitcoin price, news, and analysis