Summary
- Citigroup raised its 12-month bitcoin forecast to $113,000 from $82,000 and its ether target to $3,028 from $2,240, citing renewed exchange-traded fund inflows and favorable economic conditions.
- Citi expects cryptocurrency investment products to attract $5 billion over the next year as advisers and brokerages gradually increase bitcoin allocations.
- Bitcoin rose more than 10 percent after the Senate rejected the Clarity Act on Sept. 15, while subsequent SEC announcements and Treasury bond buybacks helped ease negative sentiment and revive the broader cryptocurrency market.
Financial services giant Citigroup (C) has raised its outlook for bitcoin and ether on account of exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows resuming and supportive macroeconomic conditions, in a note on Wednesdy.
Citi raised its 12-month forecast for bitcoin from $82,000 to $113,000 and for ether from $2,240 to $3,028. The targets represent increases for BTC and ETH of around 35% and 12% respectively based on their current prices.
Citi expects “slower but stickier” inflows into products like ETFs as advisers and brokerages favour gradual increases in bitcoin allocations, forecasting $5 billion of inflow over the next 12 months.
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs had experienced year-to-date net outflows of $5.8 billion as of July 13. This has been reversed in the months since though, with net inflows for 2026 reaching $800 million as of late September.
Despite the U.S. Senate failing to advance the Clarity Act in the middle of last month, Citi says the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)s subsequent rule announcements dampened negative sentiment, referring to them as “a temporary but meaningful positive.”