Citigroup Sees $113,000 Bitcoin and $3,028 Ethereum as Crypto Rally Continues

Citigroup has raised its 12-month Bitcoin target to $113,000, a 35% increase from current levels, as the bank expects 'slower but stickier' ETF inflows to continue. The bank also lifted its Ethereum target from $2,240 to $3,028, about 12% above current prices. This move comes after the Senate defeat of the CLARITY Act, which Citigroup called a 'temporary but meaningful positive' that softened the blow of the Act's potential impact on crypto regulations. The bank noted that rulemaking clarity may substitute for a durable CLARITY Act at this stage of the electoral cycle.

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan wrote that crypto rallied harder after the CLARITY Act failed than most expected, with Bitcoin up 8% and Ethereum up 7% since the vote. Hougan argued that crypto gave up long-term legal certainty in exchange for faster, more aggressively pro-crypto rules from regulators. He highlighted four specific winners from the bill's collapse: stablecoins, crypto exchanges, tokenization platforms, and revenue-generating tokens. However, Hougan flagged the risk of a new administration in 2029 installing regulators who reverse course.

The Treasury's bond buyback program has also been cited as a catalyst that revived momentum across crypto broadly. Despite the risks, Hougan argues that crypto will likely be 'too big to crush' by then, given how deeply major financial firms will have built on blockchain infrastructure.