STANDARD CHARTERED SAYS $100K MAY BE TOO LOW — $1.44 BILLION IN SHORTS WIPED, $126,000 BACK ON THE TABLE
The bank’s year-end target just moved from a ceiling to a floor.
Standard Chartered’s Geoffrey Kendrick runs digital assets research for the bank. On Aug. 21 he told clients his $100,000 year-end price call may be too low. His exact words: “For the first time this year there is now a risk my end year forecast (of USD100k) is too low.”
The trigger was the tape. Bitcoin ran to $79,500 on Aug. 21. Traders shorting the move got wiped out.
Coinglass shows $1.44 billion in bitcoin shorts liquidated over Aug. 19-21. That is the largest daily total in the dataset. The dataset goes back to June 2021.
Money also came in through the wrappers. Spot bitcoin ETFs pulled in about $1.92 billion over five sessions. Aug. 20 alone did $606 million. BlackRock’s IBIT took 83% of that day.
Two policy moves lit the match. On Aug. 19 the Treasury doubled its buyback cap from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation. The window runs Sept. 9 through Nov. 4.
Same day, Trump gathered crypto CEOs at the White House. He pressed the Senate to pass the CLARITY Act. Bitcoin cleared $70,000 by the close.
Kendrick called bitcoin a “Giffen good.” His explanation: “people want to buy more when prices go up.” Rising price pulls in more buying. More buying pulls in more price.
His new upside marker is $126,000. That is the all-time high set on Oct. 6, 2025. Once the market rolls past that anniversary date, he thinks a full retest is on the table.
The old target was $150,000. The bank cut it to $100,000 in February. Now $100,000 looks like the floor, not the ceiling.
THE NUMBERS
1) Source: Bitcoin.com News / Kevin Helms, Aug 22 7:45 PM EDT, citing Standard Chartered research note Aug 21.
2) Analyst: Geoffrey Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Assets Research, Standard Chartered Bank.
3) Old year-end target: $100,000 (cut in Feb from $150,000).
4) New upside marker: $126,000 — the all-time high set Oct. 6, 2025.
5) Spot price cited: $79,500 on Aug. 21.
6) Short liquidations: $1.44 billion in BTC shorts wiped Aug. 19-21 — largest in the Coinglass dataset back to June 2021.
7) ETF inflows: $1.92 billion over five sessions. Aug. 20 = $606 million single-day, IBIT 83% of that.
8) Treasury catalyst: Aug. 19, buyback cap doubled from $2B to $4B per operation. Window Sept. 9 - Nov. 4.
9) White House catalyst: Aug. 19, Trump crypto event pushing the CLARITY Act.
10) Kendrick’s quote on his own call: “For the first time this year there is now a risk my end year forecast (of USD100k) is too low.”
11) Kendrick on demand: Bitcoin is a “Giffen good” — “people want to buy more when prices go up.”
2) Analyst: Geoffrey Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Assets Research, Standard Chartered Bank.
3) Old year-end target: $100,000 (cut in Feb from $150,000).
4) New upside marker: $126,000 — the all-time high set Oct. 6, 2025.
5) Spot price cited: $79,500 on Aug. 21.
6) Short liquidations: $1.44 billion in BTC shorts wiped Aug. 19-21 — largest in the Coinglass dataset back to June 2021.
7) ETF inflows: $1.92 billion over five sessions. Aug. 20 = $606 million single-day, IBIT 83% of that.
8) Treasury catalyst: Aug. 19, buyback cap doubled from $2B to $4B per operation. Window Sept. 9 - Nov. 4.
9) White House catalyst: Aug. 19, Trump crypto event pushing the CLARITY Act.
10) Kendrick’s quote on his own call: “For the first time this year there is now a risk my end year forecast (of USD100k) is too low.”
11) Kendrick on demand: Bitcoin is a “Giffen good” — “people want to buy more when prices go up.”
The bank cut to $100K in February.
Now $100K might be the floor.
$126K is the marker on the wall.
The cap is still twenty-one million.
Now $100K might be the floor.
$126K is the marker on the wall.
The cap is still twenty-one million.
Bitcoin.com · Kevin Helms · Standard Chartered research note Aug 21 · Coinglass · Sosovalue ETF flow data · Sat Aug 22 2026