Yazılar

Citi Raises Ether Forecast, Trims Bitcoin Outlook as Investor Preferences Shift

/in /tarafından

Citigroup has revised its year-end cryptocurrency forecasts, raising its target for ether (ETH) while slightly cutting its outlook for bitcoin (BTC), citing changing investor behaviour and macroeconomic headwinds.

The Wall Street bank said that investors are increasingly gravitating toward ether’s yield-generating features, while bitcoin continues to rely primarily on price appreciation for returns.

NEW TARGETS AND PRICE OUTLOOK

Citi set a year-end target of $133,000 for bitcoin, representing a 12% upside from its current trading price of around $118,747, as of 05:30 GMT.
For ether, the bank now expects the token to reach $4,500 by year-end — a 3% gain from its current level of $4,375.

The brokerage maintains a positive long-term view, forecasting 12-month targets of $181,000 for bitcoin and $5,440 for ether.

BITCOIN: STRONG NARRATIVE, MIXED MACRO HEADWINDS

Citi slightly reduced its bitcoin forecast due to offsetting macroeconomic factors, including a stronger U.S. dollar and weaker gold prices, which tend to reduce demand for alternative stores of value.
Still, analysts said bitcoin’s “digital gold” narrative remains robust, continuing to attract institutional and retail inflows as global interest in hard assets persists.

Citi’s base case assumes year-end inflows of roughly $7.5 billion into bitcoin, while its bull case depends on rising equity markets and stronger demand from digital asset funds.
Under its bear case, however, the bank warned that a global recession could push bitcoin prices down to $83,000.

ETHER: INSTITUTIONAL INTEREST AND STAKING GAINS

Ether’s upgraded outlook comes after a sharp summer price rally, fueled by institutional buying and ETF-related inflows. Citi analysts said ether’s potential for yield generation through staking and decentralised finance (DeFi) continues to attract capital from long-term investors.

Citi expects ether to remain supported in 2025 by strong inflows from ETFs and digital asset treasuries, which have emerged as a growing segment of crypto demand.
While ether’s downside is harder to quantify, given uncertainties around network usage and value accrual, analysts said the token benefits from a broader use case compared with bitcoin.

INVESTOR FLOWS WILL DRIVE YEAR-END PERFORMANCE

Both cryptocurrencies, Citi noted, are trading above user-activity-based metrics, highlighting the speculative component of current valuations. Sustained investor demand and macro stability will be essential to keeping prices elevated into 2026.

“Ether’s yield advantage and utility-driven narrative are drawing steady inflows,” Citi wrote, “while bitcoin continues to hold its place as digital gold — but faces short-term macro friction.”

Coinbase to Face Narrowed Shareholder Lawsuit After Judge’s Partial Dismissal

/in /tarafından

A U.S. federal judge has ruled that Coinbase must face a narrowed shareholder lawsuit alleging it misled investors about key business risks, including the likelihood of being sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In a 59-page ruling issued Tuesday night, Judge Brian Martinotti of the U.S. District Court in New Jersey rejected Coinbase’s bid for a full dismissal of the case. The lawsuit accuses the cryptocurrency exchange and several of its top executives and board members of fraudulently concealing regulatory and financial risks in public statements over a two-year period.

The shareholders allege Coinbase made misleading claims suggesting it was unlikely to face SEC enforcement, and that customer assets would remain protected even if the company filed for bankruptcy. These statements, made through earnings calls, regulatory filings, blog posts, and social media, allegedly inflated investor confidence.

Judge Martinotti ruled that plaintiffs could not proceed based solely on “group pleading”, where statements in company-wide documents do not specify individual responsibility. However, he allowed the lawsuit to continue for claims where investors provided specific allegations tied to individual defendants, writing, “Where plaintiffs have appropriately provided defendant-by-defendant particularity, the claims must remain.”

In a notable aside, Martinotti criticized the lack of clarity in the plaintiffs’ filings, remarking humorously, “Judges are not like pigs, hunting for truffles buried in briefs.”

Coinbase called the ruling a “significant step forward,” saying it would continue to “vigorously defend against any remaining claims.” Attorneys representing the shareholders did not immediately respond to media requests.

The case stems from major stock drops in 2022 and 2023, including a 26% plunge on May 11, 2022 after Coinbase reported disappointing revenues and added new risk disclosures, and a 12% drop on June 6, 2023 following the SEC lawsuit alleging the company operated as an unregistered securities exchange.

The class action, led by Swedish pension fund Sjunde AP-Fonden, covers investors who bought Coinbase shares between April 14, 2021, and June 5, 2023.

The SEC’s own case against Coinbase was dropped in February 2025, after the Trump administration moved to loosen federal oversight of the cryptocurrency sector, marking a major shift in the U.S. regulatory approach to digital assets.

The case is In re Coinbase Global Inc. Securities Litigation, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, No. 22-04915.

Billionaire-Backed Bitcoin Firm OranjeBTC to List on Brazil’s B3 Exchange

/in /tarafından

OranjeBTC, a Brazilian cryptocurrency firm backed by some of the biggest names in global finance and crypto, will begin trading on Brazil’s B3 stock exchange next week, marking a major step in the mainstream adoption of bitcoin-linked companies in Latin America.

The move positions OranjeBTC to directly challenge Méliuz (CASH3.SA), the first Brazilian firm to adopt a bitcoin treasury strategy.

BITCOIN AS CORE TREASURY ASSET

Founded by Guilherme Gomes, OranjeBTC aims to attract domestic investors who might not be able to hold digital assets directly due to regulatory restrictions.
“Certain investors are prohibited from buying bitcoins directly,” Gomes explained. “Through OranjeBTC, they’ll be able to gain exposure to bitcoin via the stock market.”

The company currently holds 3,650 bitcoins in its corporate treasury—worth more than $420 million at current prices—and plans to increase its reserves as it expands.

“Bitcoin will change financial systems as we know them,” Gomes said. “Our main focus is bitcoin at the highest level — building infrastructure, knowledge, and value around it.”

STRATEGIC INVESTORS AND BACKERS

Before its public debut, OranjeBTC attracted investments from high-profile figures and firms, including:

  • Ricardo Salinas, the Mexican billionaire and owner of Banco Azteca,

  • Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, co-founders of Gemini,

  • FalconX, a leading crypto brokerage, and

  • Adam Back, a pioneering figure in bitcoin mining and CEO of Blockstream.

These heavyweight backers underscore growing institutional confidence in bitcoin-focused companies emerging from Latin America.

A REVERSE IPO STRATEGY

Instead of pursuing a traditional initial public offering, OranjeBTC is using a reverse IPO mechanism — listing its shares through Intergraus, an education-focused subsidiary already traded on B3.

This approach allows OranjeBTC to bypass the lengthy approval process typical of standard IPOs, speeding up its entry into public markets.

BITCOIN EDUCATION AND MARKET ACCESS

Beyond serving as an investment vehicle, OranjeBTC plans to use its education platform to help shareholders and retail investors better understand bitcoin markets and blockchain technology.

The company’s broader mission, according to Gomes, is to make bitcoin investment and knowledge accessible to everyday Brazilians, while building a strong local presence in the country’s fast-growing digital asset ecosystem.

With its debut on B3, OranjeBTC will become one of the few publicly traded companies in the world with bitcoin as its central treasury reserve, signaling a broader institutional shift toward digital assets in emerging markets.