Bitcoin earns base case target of $143,000 at Citigroup

Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Bitcoin earns base case target of $143,000 at Citigroup The Wall Street bank said its bitcoin forecast relies on further crypto ETF inflows and a continued rally in traditional equity markets. By Olivier Acuna | Edited by Stephen Alpher Dec 19, 2025, 4:53 p.m. Citigroup forecasts a $143,000 bitcoin within the next 12 months. What to know : Citigroup's base case for bitcoin (BTC) is a rise to $143,000 in 12 months. Analysts highlight $70,000 as key support, with the potential for a sharp rise due to revived ETF demand and positive market forecasts. The bear case sees bitcoin falling to $78,500 amid a global recession, while the bull case predicts a rise to $189,000 due to increased investor demand. Amid the recent bearish price action, the headline on Citigroup's 12-month outlook for bitcoin BTC $ 88,169.07 of $143,000 — or about 62% upside from the current $88,000 — will raise some eyebrows. “We forecast increased adoption of digital assets, spurred by potential U.S. digital-asset legislation in the second quarter, with bitcoin likely ranging into the new year around $80,000-$90,000 user-activity values,” Citi analysts Alex Saunders, Dirk Willer and Vinh Vo said in their joint report. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . They said to keep an eye on the $70,000 level as key support, noting that was roughly bitcoin's price just ahead of Donald Trump's 2024 election victory. Their base case 12 months out is for a sharp rise to $143,000, driven, they said, by revived ETF demand and positive stock market forecasts. Regulatory catalysts — in particular passage and signing of the Clarity Act (already passed in the House) — should drive further adoption and fund flows, they added. But there's also a bear case, and the group pegs that target at a lowly $78,500, or down more than 10% from current levels. They believe a global recession would be the catalyst. The bull case would be $189,000, or more than doubling from current levels, and that would be thanks to increased end-investor demand, they said. Bitcoin News Citigroup More For You Protocol Research: GoPlus Security By CoinDesk Research Nov 14, 2025 Commissioned by GoPlus What to know : As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M. GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month. Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B. View Full Report More For You Can bitcoin break the curse U.S. trading hour selloffs? By Krisztian Sandor , James Van Straten | Edited by Stephen Alpher 2 minutes ago Bitcoin bulls are putting up a fight on Friday to break this week's choppy action that has capped all advances at around $90,000. What to know : Bitcoin bounced above $89,000 overnight, but bulls are once again struggling to maintain gains in the U.S. session. ETH, SOL, SUI lead the altcoin rebound, up over 5% from Thursday's lows. U.S. equities are showing strength, also helping to boost crypto-related stocks like BitMine and Galaxy. Read full story Latest Crypto News Can bitcoin break the curse U.S. trading hour selloffs? 2 minutes ago Foundation behind restaking protocol EigenLayer plans bigger rewards for active users 11 minutes ago Polkadot's DOT holds steady with token unchanged over 24 hours 14 minutes ago Federal Reserve moves toward narrower, crypto-driven take on master accounts 23 minutes ago Citi trims crypto stock price targets after bitcoin's disappointing Q4 40 minutes ago Most Influential 2025's Honorable Mentions 1 hour ago Top Stories Federal Reserve moves toward narrower, crypto-driven take on master accounts 23 minutes ago Citi trims crypto stock price targets after bitcoin's disappointing Q4 40 minutes ago DraftKings enters prediction markets with CFTC-approved app for real-world events 1 hour ago Wall Street bank JPMorgan says stablecoin market could grow to $600 billion by 2028 2 hours ago Bitcoin gains as yen surprisingly tumbles after BOJ rate hike: Crypto Daybook Americas 4 hours ago Jump Trading sued for $4 billion in connection to Do Kwon’s Terra Labs collapse: WSJ 5 hours ago In this article BTC BTC $ 88,169.07 ◢ 0.18 %