Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, Geoffrey Kendrick, stated that the bank's $100,000 bitcoin year-end forecast may be too low following a record-breaking short liquidation event and renewed spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) demand. Bitcoin reached $79,500 on August 21, marking its highest level since May.
According to research provided by Kendrick, the market experienced its largest bitcoin short-liquidation event in available Coinglass records dating back to June 2021. During the August 19-21 rally, BTC short liquidations approached $1.44 billion on a daily chart basis. Total short-side liquidations across crypto markets exceeded $1.22 billion in a separate 24-hour window, with bitcoin short liquidations reaching $764 million over 24 hours and broader single-day wipeouts reaching up to $3 billion.
The market upward movement was accompanied by renewed institutional inflows into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs. Updated data showed $1.61 billion across the first four trading sessions of the week, with an additional $307.5 million added on August 21 to bring the five-day total to approximately $1.92 billion. Strongest performance occurred on August 20 with $606.29 million in inflows, led primarily by BlackRock's IBIT.
Kendrick also pointed to external market catalysts that supported the price action. The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced an expansion of liquidity-support buybacks for longer-dated government securities, doubling maximum purchase sizes starting in September. Additionally, a White House cryptocurrency event on August 19 featured industry executives and lawmakers discussing regulatory frameworks including the CLARITY Act.
Reflecting on the shifting market dynamics and potential price momentum toward bitcoin's previous all-time high of $126,000, Kendrick noted that the bank's longer-range targets continue to project $500,000 for bitcoin by 2030, alongside an ether target of $40,000 over the same horizon.
