$231K Bitcoin? Citibank Issues Bold Short-Term Crypto Prediction

Citibank has issued fresh 12-month price targets for Bitcoin and Ethereum, laying out a wide set of possible outcomes that range from steep drops to large gains.

According to the bank’s latest note, Bitcoin’s base case sits at $181,000, while a bearish scenario puts it at $82,000. A bullish run could push Bitcoin to $231,000 within a year.

Citi Lays Out Wide Range

Based on reports, Citi is avoiding a single forecast and instead gives three clear paths for Bitcoin. The bank’s bearish mark of $82,000 represents a 31% fall from Bitcoin’s current quoted price of $120,314.

The base case of $181,000 would be a 52% rise. At the top end, Citi’s $231,000 figure is roughly 95% above today’s level. Those are big swings. They show how much uncertainty traders face.

Citi introduces new 12-month price targets for digital assets: Bear Base Bull BTC $82k $181k $231k ETH $2k $5.4k $7.3k pic.twitter.com/AlpWPaK2YW

— matthew sigel, recovering CFA (@matthew_sigel) October 2, 2025

Macro Forces, Institutional Demand

Citi points to the US dollar and gold as key factors that could cap Bitcoin’s upside. A stronger US dollar and weaker gold prices were noted as headwinds for crypto returns.

At the same time, the bank highlighted continued interest from large investors and more institutional flows as reasons Bitcoin could climb.

The note also compared these targets with Citi’s earlier year-end calls — $132,000 for Bitcoin and $4,500 for Ethereum — and said it extended the timeline to a 12-month horizon that runs to October 2026.

Reports have disclosed that over the last 24 hours Bitcoin was up 2% and Ethereum rose 2.10%. Other big-name forecasts were mentioned alongside Citi’s view.

Standard Chartered and Fundstrat’s Tom Lee are among analysts saying Bitcoin could reach between $200,000 and $250,000 by the end of this year.

Tom Lee has put forward a much higher figure for Ethereum, forecasting $15,000 for ETH — a number well above Citi’s most bullish estimate.

According to Citi, Ethereum faces more unknowns. The bank set a bear case for ETH at $2,000, a base target at $5,400, and a bullish number at $7,300.

Those levels sit around a 65% rise from Ethereum’s current price of $4,480 in the best case. Citi explained that Ethereum’s ecosystem is still shifting, so it’s harder to predict how value will be shared across projects and staking participants.

Citi’s range is both a warning and a roadmap. It warns that prices can fall sharply — as shown by the $82,000 bear case for Bitcoin and $2,000 for Ethereum — but it also maps possible upside.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView