Citi and two other major financial firms, including Standard Chartered and Bernstein, have lowered their bitcoin price targets for this year.

CoinPost, a blockchain media outlet, reported on Oct. 27 that with bitcoin trading around $80,000, it would need to rise about 88% to reach the $150,000 target previously presented by Standard Chartered and Bernstein.

Standard Chartered lowered its year-end target to $100,000 from $150,000. Bernstein set a year-end target of $125,000 and pushed back the timing for reaching $150,000 to mid-2027. Citi lowered its target from $143,000 at the start of the year to $82,000 in July, then raised its 12-month target to $113,000 in early October.

Trader Sha compiled 13 bitcoin price forecasts for the end of 2026. Among financial firms, Citi presented $126,000 as its base scenario, while Standard Chartered forecast $150,000 and $200,000, JPMorgan forecast $170,000, VanEck forecast $180,000, and Tom Lee projected $189,000.

Individual investors forecast higher levels. Tim Draper put the figure at $250,000, Cathie Wood at $275,000, Robert Kiyosaki, the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, at $350,000, and Anthony Scaramucci at $400,000. Chamath Palihapitiya and Mike Novogratz expected $500,000.

Many of those peak forecasts came out between the start of the year and spring. Novogratz lowered his year-end bitcoin price outlook in October to around $100,000.

Bitcoin is about 37% below its all-time high of $126,223 recorded in October 2025. From the current price, it would need to rise about 6.25 times to reach $500,000, the highest forecast among the projections.

Macroeconomic and regulatory uncertainty influenced the cuts in targets. Brent crude rose from about $71 a barrel just before the outbreak of the war between the United States and Israel and Iran, which began on Feb. 28, to above $100 by mid-March, and remained above $100 on Oct. 1. As inflation concerns grew, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose above 5.3 percent intraday on Oct. 1, the highest level since 2002. The U.S. Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate on Sept. 16 for the first time since 2023 and is set to decide on an additional hike on Oct. 28.

Regulatory uncertainty also remains. The U.S. Senate put to a vote on Sept. 15 a procedural motion to begin deliberations on the Clarity bill to establish a regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency market, but it was rejected 49 to 50. The failure to secure the 60 votes needed to advance the bill also weakened expectations for institutionalisation.

Expectations for fund inflows have not disappeared. Citi raised its target in early October to reflect fund flows into spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Bitcoin's price outlook is expected to be influenced by fund flows into spot ETFs, the Fed's interest rate decisions and U.S. regulatory legislation trends.