Citi Sets $181K Bitcoin Target, Citing Strong Institutional Demand

Citigroup has issued new price targets for Bitcoin and Ether, forecasting significant gains over the next 12 months driven by sustained investor demand and a supportive regulatory climate, according to a new analyst note.

Updated Price Forecasts

In the research note, Citi analyst Alex Saunders established a 12-month price target of $181,000 for Bitcoin and $5,400 for Ether. For the remainder of the current year, the bank expects more modest upside, with forecasts of $132,000 for Bitcoin and $4,500 for Ether.

The bank noted that both digital assets are already trading above statistical measures based on user activity. This suggests that future price appreciation will likely depend more on capital inflows than on fundamental adoption metrics.

Institutional Flows Drive Momentum

Citi anticipates the "positive flow backdrop" will continue as institutional investors and financial advisers increase their allocations to cryptocurrencies. This trend is being helped by a favorable regulatory environment, particularly in the U.S., the note said.

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However, the bank also pointed to offsetting macroeconomic factors. While positive 12-month equity return forecasts could provide a tailwind for crypto assets, Citi's projections for a stronger U.S. dollar and a weaker gold price are viewed as potential headwinds, especially for Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Preferred Over Ether

Citi stated a preference for Bitcoin over Ether, citing its larger size, longer history, and clearer investment narrative as "digital gold," which the bank believes will attract a larger share of incremental investment flows. The report notes that Bitcoin is currently trading above its adoption model estimate of $83,000.

Analysts said Ether forecasts carry more uncertainty due to the difficulty of modeling user activity and how much value accrues to the main network from Layer-2 solutions. The note found that Bitcoin flows explain 42% of its return variation, while Ether ETF flows have less explanatory power at 18%, but have demonstrated a larger relative price impact.