Wall Street giant Citi has revised its 12-month price targets for both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
The reversal has been attributed to pitiful exchange-traded fund (ETF) outflows and a stagnant legislative environment.
Citi has slashed its BTC forecast down to $82,000 and its ETH target to $2,200.
They previously expected BTC to reach much higher targets due to the anticipation of much bigger institutional flows.
The market’s momentum has stalled mainly due to a lack of legislative progress ahead of the midterms. The bank’s base-case scenario now assumes exactly zero new BTC ETF inflows over the next 12 months.
“The lack of legislative progress and negative sentiment in the sector has seen a reversal of flows YTD,” the Citi report stated. “The average ETF holder is now underwater, and prices are below their pre-2024 US election levels.”
“De-basement fears” could theoretically drive renewed interest, but the hawkish macroeconomic conditions have reduced such risks.
Just months ago, in December 2025, a joint report by various Citi analysts set a 12-month base-case target of $143,000 for Bitcoin.
The forecast was predicated on the expected passage of U.S. digital-asset legislation (specifically the Clarity Act). In that same December 2025 report, Citi outlined a bull case where BTC could reach $189,000 due to heightened end-investor demand.
Bitcoin’s terrible year
Earlier this year, Bitcoin peaked above the $96,000 level. After this, BTC suffered a huge price correction, eventually declining to roughly $60,000 by late February.
The price was pushed back up to form a lower high near $80,000 by late May. After this, consecutive weeks of heavy sell-offs forced BTC back to the $59,000 range.
Will there be another bull run?
The short-term outlook appears to be exceptionally bleak, but CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju recently noted that a macro breakout is still possible. It would require much bigger institutional allocations, according to the analyst.
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