Citigroup cut BTC/ETH 12-month targets because US crypto law don jam
Citigroup don cut dia 12-month price targets for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), say because US crypto law dey stall e don weaken near-term catalyst for adoption and institutional flows.
Dem lower BTC target to $112,000 from about $143,000 (around -21.7%). ETH target drop to $3,175 from $4,304 (about -26.2%). Citi talk say Clarity Act dey stuck for US Senate, plus wahala over stablecoin rules and the 2026 legislative window dey shrink.
Base case: without clearer policy, Citi expect choppy/sideways trading, BTC fit consolidate around $70,000. Bear case: recession plus regulatory delays fit push BTC toward $58,000 and ETH to $1,198. Bull case: stronger investor flows fit carry BTC to $165,000 and ETH to $4,488.
Citi dey more cautious about ETH, say ETH valuation dey highly sensitive to on-chain and user activity wey don soften recently. Still, stablecoins and tokenization trends fit continue to support interest for the Ethereum ecosystem.
Crypto-trader takeaway: expectations for near-term “regulatory relief” dey get repriced, increasing the odds of range trading until US policy momentum return. Watch BTC and ETH response around any US stablecoin/DeFi framework headlines.
Bearish
Citigroup decision to cut 12-month targets for BTC and ETH na be negative signal for market sentiment because e dey show say dem no expect say US go give regulatory “relief” soon. The bank base case still talk say price go dey consolidate/chop (wey dey often bearish for breakout traders), and their downside scenarios clear link regulatory delays and recession risk to more sell pressure (BTC fit go around $58,000; ETH fit go around $1,198). Even though Citi get one bullish scenario, the main near-term takeaway for BTC and ETH traders na say uncertainty likely go cap upside and keep price dey range-bound until stablecoin/DeFi policy momentum better.