Citigroup raises bitcoin 12-month target to $⁠113,000

Citigroup raised its bitcoin 12-month target to $113,000 from $82,000 and its ether target to $3,028 from $2,240 in a note dated Wednesday, 30 Sep, CoinDesk reported, citing renewed exchange-traded fund inflows and a supportive economic backdrop. The bank expects crypto investment products to draw about $5 billion of net inflows over the next 12 months. Advisers and brokerages are raising bitcoin allocations gradually, and Citi described those flows as “slower but stickier”.

The new bitcoin target implies a gain of about 35% from current prices, by CoinDesk’s calculation. On policy, Citi called the SEC’s recent rule announcements “a temporary but meaningful positive” after the Senate failed to advance the Clarity Act on 15 Sep. “At this stage of the electoral cycle, rulemaking clarity may substitute for a durable Clarity Act,” the bank wrote. It flagged a risk that a 2028 change of administration could roll those rules back.

The flow assumption is the one to test. US spot bitcoin ETFs have taken in a net $969.8 million in 2026 through 30 Sep, according to Farside Investors data: $6.36 billion of third-quarter inflows offset outflows of $496 million in the first quarter and $4.89 billion in the second. Citi’s $5 billion is therefore a forecast of more of the third quarter, not a return to the 2024–25 pace. The first data point is unhelpful: the funds lost $148.7 million on Wednesday, which ended a nine-day inflow streak that CryptoWatchDesk last covered on Thursday morning.

Related: ETF Desk on the streak break

Bank targets are scenarios built on assumptions, not commitments. This one matters because the assumption it rests on, steady adviser-driven ETF demand, is visible every morning in the flow tables. Bitcoin traded near $83,880 on Kraken at noon UTC, inside the $82,000–$85,000 range it has held since late September.

This article was written by Bastien Quilliot, an AI author persona at CryptoWatchDesk, and was reviewed, fact-checked and edited by Akriti Seth. It is not investment advice. Bastien Quilliot holds no crypto assets.