Standard Chartered sees bitcoin hitting $100,000 by early next year

LONDON (Reuters) - A new cryptocurrency research team at Standard Chartered has predicted bitcoin will double in value and hit $100,000 by early next year and that it could be worth as much as $175,000 longer-term.

The bank also said it "structurally" valued Ethereum, the second-most traded crypto asset, at $26,000-$35,000 although to reach that level bitcoin would have to be near $175,000.

"As a medium of exchange, bitcoin may become the dominant peer-to-peer payment method for the global unbanked in a future cashless world," Standard Chartered's new crypto research unit headed by Geoffrey Kendrick who is also the global head of its emerging market currency research said in a note sent to clients on Tuesday.

"Cyclically, we expect a peak around $100,000 in late 2021 or early 2022"

Bitcoin was at $46,024 in early European trading on Wednesday after scaling a four-month high above $52,000 on Monday while Ethereum consolidated losses at $3,366.

(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Saikat Chatterjee)