Citigroup Predicts ETH Price Could Crash to $2,200 by Year-End

Wall Street giant Citigroup shared a bearish case scenario for Ethereum, predicting a fall in ETH price to $2,200 by year-end. This is in contrast to the current ETH price above $4,500 and expectations of an upcoming altcoin season fueling investor sentiment for ETH and other top altcoins.

Citigroup Makes a Bearish ETH Price Prediction for Year-End

Citigroup released a new Ethereum price forecast for the year as traders prepare for crypto market recovery, considering the Fed rate cuts to resume this week. The Wall Street giant predicted the ETH price risks falling to $4,300 by the end of the year.

The bank also shared its most bullish and bearish targets in its comprehensive analysis. Ethereum could rally to $6,400 in the bullish case and crash to $2,200 in the bearish case.

The analysts cite that network activity remains the key driver of Ethereum’s value. With robust growth in Layer-2 chains and low value transfer to the base layer from Layer-2, a rise in ETH price will remain limited. Citi assumed only 30% of Layer 2 network activity contributes to Ethereum’s valuation.

Additionally, the bank cited Ethereum’s relatively small market capitalization and lower recognition among new investors as additional reasons for a decline in the ETH price by year-end.

Regarding its bullish scenario, Citigroup centered its prediction on recent capital inflows in spot Ethereum ETFs and market activity driven by tokenization and stablecoins. The bank added that macroeconomic factors contributed moderately to the ETH price rally above $4,500.

Rise in Ethereum Treasury Companies

However, corporate Ethereum treasuries have become a major driver of the ETH price. The total strategic Ethereum reserve has increased to 4.99 million worth over $22.6 billion, as per Strategic ETH Reserve data.

Moreover, Standard Chartered asserts Ethereum tends to gain more from digital asset treasury activity than Bitcoin or Solana, boosting a bullish Ethereum price prediction.

Tom Lee-backed Bitmine Immersion expanded Ethereum holdings recently by 82,000 ETH to 2.1 million, worth over $10.8 billion. Lee expected an Ethereum and ETH price supercycle amid demand from Wall Street and artificial intelligence-crypto convergence.

Furthermore, the BitMine Chairman also recently spotlighted a prediction from Fundstrat’s Mark Newton, who predicted that Ethereum could rally to $5,500 by mid-October. Meanwhile, the analyst expects choppy price action in the near term, with the altcoin possibly dipping to $4,418 or $4,375 by the end of the week.

Latest $ETH views from @MarkNewtonCMT
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ETH chop near-term
ETH $5,500 mid-October $BMNR $GRNY https://t.co/0RXssLF2IU

— Thomas (Tom) Lee (not drummer) FSInsight.com (@fundstrat) September 16, 2025

ETH price has moved sideways in the past 24 hours, with the price currently trading at $4,511. The 24-hour low and high are $4,469 and $4,542, respectively. Furthermore, the trading volume has decreased by 10% in the last 24 hours, indicating a slight decline in interest among traders.