Citi Sets $113K Bitcoin Price Target, Expects $5 Billion in Crypto ETF Inflows

Citi projects $5 billion in cryptocurrency investment product inflows over the next 12 months as advisors gradually increase allocations. Its revised outlook puts bitcoin at $113,000 and ether at $3,028, supported by stronger activity and economic conditions.  Key TakeawaysThe bank‘s bitcoin target rose approximately 38%; ether’s increased 35%.Advisers and brokerages are expected to increase allocations gradually.Bitcoin ETFs ended a nine-session inflow streak on Sept. 30.  Citi Raises Crypto Targets as Its Inflow Assumption Turns Positive  Citi‘s higher 12-month cryptocurrency price forecasts point to potential gains for investors. Citigroup (NYSE: C), a global bank, raised its projections following a recovery in demand. Its Sept. 30 research note also raised its bitcoin target to $113,000 from $82,000, according to Reuters’ Oct. 1 reporting. The bank increased its forecast for ether to $3,028 from $2,240.  Citi analyst Alex Saunders attributed the higher forecasts to stronger cryptocurrency activity, supportive economic conditions, and returning exchange-traded fund inflows. He also cited rulemaking by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Saunders said:  “The increase draws from all three components of our process: activity, macro, and ETF flows.”  “The increase draws from all three components of our process: activity, macro, and ETF flows.”  “Debasement fears alongside SEC agency rulemaking, spurred paradoxically by the failed Clarity

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Bitcoin ETFs are $5 billion away from a new flow record after a brutal 11-month reset

US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded their first daily outflow in more than two weeks, interrupting a recovery that had pushed cumulative flows close to a record.  Related Asset Bitcoin #1 BTC · $84,776.45 24-hour change: up 1.33% Loading price history… 24H Up 1.33% 7D Up 0.26% 30D Up 9.80%  The funds posted $148.7 million of net withdrawals on Sept. 30, ending nine consecutive positive sessions that brought in about $3.08 billion, according to Farside Investors.  Fidelity‘s FBTC drove most of the reversal, with $125.6 million in outflows. Bitwise’s BITB lost $13.6 million, and BlackRocks IBIT shed $9.5 million, while the other nine listed funds recorded no net flows.  Despite the setback, September remained strongly positive. The products attracted about $2.65 billion during the month, their strongest monthly flow this year behind Augusts $3.52 billion.  Related Company Fidelity Financial services company  Meanwhile, the positive September flow brought 2026 net inflows to roughly $930 million after much of the year was spent underwater.  The recovery has also brought lifetime cumulative flows back toward their previous high. Bloomberg Intelligence data show the products peaked at about $62.8 billion in cumulative inflows on Oct. 10, 2025, before months of redemptions erased much of that progress.  By July 13, the cumulative

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LATAM stablecoin liquidity may depend on few providers, investor says

Latin America‘s stablecoin payment ecosystem may depend on a small group of underlying liquidity providers, potentially disrupting customers’ ability to cash out into local currency if a key provider loses banking access, according to Verda Ventures partner Amit Chu.  In a newly published report from crypto venture companies Varys Capital and Verda Ventures, drawing on Verdas Stablescape database, researchers analyzed 494 companies in the region, but found only 16 whose primary business is providing wholesale stablecoin-to-fiat liquidity, corporate treasury and credit, warning that “fragility in the system is concentrated in its thinnest layer.”  “There are many sellers of liquidity and very few specialists. What we can‘t see from public data is how many of them warehouse the currency risk themselves and how many pass it to the same few desks and exchanges. Our view is that it’s the second, and thats the fragility the report is pointing at,” Chu told Cointelegraph.  Stablecoins are playing a growing role in Latin Americas crypto economy. According to a September Chainalysis report, stablecoins by June 2026 accounted for 32.1% of cross-border crypto value, and 22.1% of domestic P2P activity and 17.6% of personal wallet balances in the region.  Countries with the greatest monetary instability exhibited the fastest growth

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CLARITY Act could allow 11 crypto activities for US banks

The Congressional Research Service has identified 11 categories of crypto activities that the Senate-reported CLARITY Act would permit for U.S. banking organizations and credit unions, including digital asset underwriting and dealing.  The Congressional Research Service published its analysis, “Crypto and Bank-Permissible Activities,” on Sep. 30, examining how competing versions of H.R. 3633 would change banks authority to conduct digital asset business.  According to the nonpartisan research service, the Senate-reported bill would make the 11 activity categories available across banking organizations and credit unions without preserving the existing distinction between activities conducted inside insured banks and those assigned to nonbank subsidiaries.  The report identifies digital asset underwriting and dealing as an example of permissions that would exceed banks current authority in comparable securities markets. CRS says banks can currently underwrite and deal in limited securities categories, including instruments issued by federal and state governments or their agencies.  CLARITY Act versions would give banks different permissions  Under the House-passed version, banks could use digital assets or blockchain technology to carry out activities already permitted by law, according to the CRS analysis. The House text would also authorize certain crypto activities for financial holding companies, allowing those services in nonbank subsidiaries rather than insured banking subsidiaries.  By comparison, the

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The 'Largest Pure-Play' XRP Treasury Is About to Go Public

In briefEvernorth cleared its final hurdle to go public after Armada Acquisition Corp. II shareholders approved their merger Sept. 30.The transaction and related placements raised over $1 billion for what the company calls the largest publicly traded pure-play XRP treasury.Backed by Ripple, Pantera, Kraken and others, it joins the crypto-treasury trend, with fortunes tied to XRPs volatile price.  Evernorth, a treasury company built around XRP, has cleared the last major obstacle to going public, with shareholders approving its merger and setting the stage for a Nasdaq listing next week.  The company said Wednesday that shareholders of Armada Acquisition Corp. II, the blank-check company Evernorth is merging with, voted to approve the business combination at a meeting Sept. 30.  Myriad: Where does XRP go next? Click to make your prediction.  The deal is expected to close Oct. 7, with Evernorths Class A common stock slated to begin trading Oct. 8 under the ticker “XRPN.”  The merger and related fundraising have pulled in more than $1 billion. The transaction is expected to generate roughly $300 million in gross cash proceeds, including $225 million from private placements, $30 million in convertible note financing and about $48 million in trust proceeds, before expenses.  Investors also contributed XRP directly, and at

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TRUMP memecoin launches dinner contest for top 185 holders as token falls 97%

TRUMP memecoins organizers have opened a contest offering 185 holders seats at a Nov. 22 dinner featuring President Donald Trump, with the token trading around $2.04 on Oct. 1, roughly 97% below its peak.  Fight Fight Fight LLC, the company operating the TRUMP Coin Club, has announced a gala at Trump National in Washington, D.C., with eligibility determined by a Nov. 12 snapshot. According to the event page, Trump will appear alongside three advertised celebrity guests, described as “legends.”  The organizers also list a separate meet-and-greet with a celebrity whose identity has yet to be announced, while explicitly excluding private presidential meetings.  TRUMP memecoin dinner rewards sustained holdings  Under the published leaderboard rules, participants receive scores based on how many tokens they hold and how long they retain them during the measurement period. The event page says standings update daily, with the top 185 qualifying for dinner and the top 29 receiving a VIP reception and front-row dinner seating.  For existing Coin Club members, the organizers require a separate dinner registration. According to the registration page, membership or participation in an earlier contest does not automatically enter a holder into the November competition.  The event page lists Sep. 30 through Nov. 12 as the scoring window.

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OpenAI Fires Three Safety Researchers Over Alleged Leak to Outside Group

In briefOpenAI confirmed it parted ways with three people for violating policies on handling sensitive information, which they allegedly shared with an outside AI safety organization.OpenAI has not identified the three people or the receiving group, and names circulating on X are unconfirmed rumors.The case follows months of OpenAI agent incidents—at Hugging Face, U.S. government sites, and an Australian Medicare portal—and two pauses in model training.  OpenAI has parted ways with three safety researchers who allegedly shared confidential company information with an outside AI safety organization, per the Wall Street Journal.  An OpenAI spokesperson said the three violated company policies on accessing and handling sensitive information.  Myriad: Which company will IPO next? Click to make your prediction.  OpenAI hasnt said what information changed hands, which organization received it, or who the three people are.  Speculation filled the gap fast. An X account that tracks AI-lab departures posted a run of exits from OpenAI and Anthropic, and many users tied a few of those names to the firings. Nothing confirms a link, people leave labs for plenty of reasons, and the accounts have not said anything about being fired or resigning.  OpenAI departures, according to a tracker on X. Image: X/ArfurGrokSafety exits are not new at OpenAI  Safety

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Bond yield explosion gives Bitcoin a strong signal – is now finally Satoshi’s time?

Bitcoins monetary case is growing stronger as governments face more expensive borrowing, and software is becoming a buyer of services. Sovereign financing pressure gives people a reason to consider money issued outside government policy. Agent commerce gives that money another way to circulate.  Related Asset Bitcoin #1 BTC · $84,776.45 24-hour change: up 1.33% Loading price history… 24H Up 1.33% 7D Up 0.26% 30D Up 9.80%  The Bank of England put sovereign-bond stress and the borrowing that finances artificial intelligence in the same warning on September 30. Its financial-stability record describes an extended energy shock pushing government yields higher, while growing AI-related debt leaves more investors exposed to the technologys fortunes.  I see a credible catalyst for hyperbitcoinization in that combination. A transition toward Bitcoin as widely used money would require people and businesses to hold it, spend it and price services in it. If they retain bitcoin for future purchases, more payment utility could reinforce demand for the balance itself.  On the same day as the Banks warning, Mastercard announced new trust and intelligence services for its Agent Pay program, including a score designed to identify AI-initiated transactions. That score is rolling out for testing in the United States.  Related Company Mastercard Global payments

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Bitcoin Price Begins 'Uptober' With a Swing Back to $85K

Bitcoin opened the new month with seesaw price action, hovering near $85,000 after hitting resistance above that level and finding support near $83,500.  Key TakeawaysBitcoin rose to $85,000 on Oct. 1 following Wednesdays PCE data release, easing year-to-date losses.Coinglass data shows daily bitcoin liquidations plunged to just $35 million as market volatility cooled.Citigroup raised its 12-month Bitcoin price target to $113,000, forecasting $5 billion in net ETF inflows.  Seasonal Sentiment Shifts to Uptober  Bitcoin marked the start of the new month facing resistance above $85,000 as the leading cryptocurrency by market cap experienced typical seesaw price action. The uptick near the $85,000 mark followed Wednesdays release of better-than-expected personal consumption expenditures (PCE) data. The price movement came just hours after bitcoin closed September with net gains, marking its second consecutive positive month.  The rare winning streak has shifted market focus toward seasonal “Uptober” sentiment, a historically bullish October trend for digital assets, with prominent, pseudonymous quantitative analyst PlanB going so far as to assert that bitcoin remains “extremely undervalued.”  According to market data, bitcoins price began the period by sliding from $84,410 to $83,500, a threshold where it appeared to find strong support. After holding this range until late Wednesday, the cryptocurrency suddenly rallied to

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NEAR Intents resumes service after $3.8M exploit, pledges full compensation

NEAR Intents has resumed service after a $3.8 million exploit affecting USDT on BSC, with co-founder Illia Polosukhin promising full compensation for affected users.  SummaryThe attacker exploited Omnis deposit and withdrawal interaction with the NEAR Intents smart contract.Polosukhin said the team fixed the vulnerability within an hour of detection.NEAR Intents and near.com returned online, although some affected chains remained restricted.The core NEAR Protocol, NEAR token, and other applications were unaffected, according to Polosukhin.  NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin said on Oct. 1 that the team had restored NEAR Intents and near.com after temporarily pausing the service when its SHIELD security system detected unusual activity.  Earlier today, NEAR Intents was exploited for $3.8m. SHIELD, the AI security layer on Intents, detected outlier behavior and Intents were temporarily paused. All of the affected users will be compensated in full.  In his account of the incident, Polosukhin placed the loss at $3.8 million and said the vulnerability involved the interaction between Omnis deposit and withdrawal infrastructure and the NEAR Intents smart contract. He limited the affected asset and network to USDT on BSC.  “All of the affected users will be compensated in full.”  You might also like:  NEAR Intents says it stopped $50M Bitget laundering bid  NEAR Intents fixes the vulnerability within

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