Catenaa, Thursday, February 13, 2026- JPMorgan and Standard Chartered signaled diverging short-term views but steady longer-term optimism on bitcoin in separate research notes published this week and reported by The Block, outlining support near $77,000 and warning of a possible slide toward $50,000 before recovery in 2026.
JPMorgan estimates bitcoin’s production cost has fallen to about $77,000 from $90,000 at the start of the year, identifying the level as a historical support zone as mining conditions shift.
Analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou said the decline follows a roughly 15% year-to-date drop in network mining difficulty, the sharpest since China’s 2021 mining crackdown. Lower bitcoin prices and severe winter storms in parts of the United States, including Texas, pushed higher-cost miners offline, reducing hashrate.
The bank expects difficulty to rebound as more efficient operators gain market share. It said forced selling by distressed miners added to price pressure but argued the exit of weaker players may help stabilize the market.
Standard Chartered warned of further downside before recovery, projecting bitcoin could fall toward $50,000 and ether to $1,400 amid macroeconomic headwinds and weaker exchange-traded fund flows.
The bank expects bitcoin to reach $100,000 and ether $4,000 by year-end 2026, though both targets were reduced from earlier forecasts.
JPMorgan reiterated a long-term bitcoin target of $266,000, citing comparisons with gold as a hedge asset.
