Citi raises 12-month Bitcoin target to $113,000 on expected ETF inflows

Citigroup raised its 12-month Bitcoin price target to $113,000 from $82,000, expecting exchange-traded fund (ETF) buyers to keep returning. Citi raised its Ethereum forecast to $3,028 from $2,240. Citi now expects $5 billion of Bitcoin ETF inflows over 12 months as advisers and brokerages gradually increase allocations. However, US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $148.69 million in outflows on September 30, the date of Citi's note. Citi analyst Alex Saunders said improvements in activity, macroeconomic conditions and ETF flows drove the revision. Saunders said concerns about currency debasement and SEC rulemaking helped cryptocurrencies regain technical price levels despite the failure of the Clarity Act. Saunders said ETF inflows resumed as prices broke above their 200-day moving averages. Bitcoin recorded a golden cross on September 8, when its 50-day moving average rose above its 200-day moving average. Citi's June 30 note, reported by Reuters, cut its 12-month ETF inflow estimate to zero from $10 billion. That note lowered Citi's Bitcoin target to $82,000 from $112,000 and its Ethereum target to $2,240 from $3,175. Bitcoin traded near $59,000 at the time, while Ethereum traded near $1,600. Coinglass data showed Bitcoin gained 42.7% and Ethereum gained 70.8% in the third quarter. Their year-to-date losses narrowed to about 3% and 8.4%, respectively. Bitcoin also recorded its first third quarter with gains in every month. BeInCrypto Markets data put Bitcoin at $84,591 at press time, up 1.18% over 24 hours. Citi's Bitcoin target was about 34% above that price. Citi's target also exceeded the $100,000 Bitcoin forecast for 2027 from VanEck head of digital assets research Matthew Sigel. Bitcoin ETF demand cooled late in September. CryptoQuant estimated that apparent spot demand shrank by 170,000 BTC in 30 days. Ethereum traded at $2,699.46, up 0.34% on the day, leaving about 12% upside to Citi's new target. The new Ethereum target remained below Citi's pre-June 30 target of $3,175. Santiment data last week put 3.49% of Ethereum supply on exchanges. Ethereum ETFs ended a seven-day inflow streak on September 29. Fund data through the Federal Reserve's October 27 to 28 meeting should indicate whether Citi's inflow assumption holds up.