Amid recent bearish price action, Citigroup’s 12-month Bitcoin outlook headlines $143,000 — or about a 62% increase from the current $88,000 — will raise some eyebrows.
Citi analysts Alex Saunders, Dirk Willer and Vinh Vo said in their joint report: “We expect the adoption of digital assets to increase driven by potential U.S. digital asset legislation in the second quarter, and the value of Bitcoin user activity may reach approximately $80,000 to $90,000 in the new year.”
They said to watch the $70,000 level as a key support level, noting that this is roughly where Bitcoin will be before Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory.
They said the base case is for a sharp rise to $143,000 in 12 months, driven by a recovery in ETF demand and positive stock market forecasts. They added that regulatory catalysts — specifically the passage and signing of the CLARITY Act (which has already passed the House) — should drive further adoption and funding flows.
But there’s also a pessimistic scenario, with the group’s price target at $78,500, a drop of more than 10% from current levels. They believe a global recession will be the catalyst.
They said the bull market forecast price is $189,000, more than double current levels, thanks to increased end-investor demand.
