Bitcoin traded near $76,600 on Aug. 23 after reaching $79,500 on Aug. 21, but the rally did not invalidate Peter Brandt’s earlier $58,000-$62,000 forecast. Brandt issued the call on Jan. 19, when Bitcoin traded near $92,400, and reportedly expected the decline within two weeks. Bitcoin later entered the target zone during the 2026 downturn, falling to approximately $57,717 on July 1, although the forecast timing was wrong. Brandt subsequently changed his bearish view after an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern (a potential bullish reversal formation) broke above its neckline, saying he had bought the breakout. The latest rally was supported by short liquidations, $1.92 billion in U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF inflows across five sessions and a U.S. Treasury decision to at least double long-dated buybacks to $4 billion per operation beginning Sept. 9. Bitcoin’s next test is whether it can reclaim and hold $79,500 before challenging $80,000; failure could return attention to the low-$70,000 region and the pattern’s neckline.