Overview
- Bitcoin has rallied sharply in the past week to roughly $76,000–$77,000, driven mainly by forced buying as short positions were liquidated.
- Standard Chartered’s global head of digital asset research, Geoff Kendrick, said the bank’s published $100,000 year-end forecast may now be conservative and that Bitcoin could revisit the $126,000 all-time high before year-end if the recovery continues.
- Kendrick pointed to low open interest as a structural feature that lets investors rebuild positions without immediate crowded leverage, which can make rallies more durable.
- Recovering inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds are cited as a separate source of steady buying that could sustain gains beyond mechanically driven short-covering.
- The bank has not formally replaced its $100,000 target, and market watchers will focus on whether momentum holds past the October 6 anniversary of last year’s peak as a test of a sustained recovery.