Citi analysts: Ethereum will drop to $4,300 by end of year

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, has shed over $100 billion of its market capitalization in the last seven days as the price falls under the $2,200 level, a nearly nine-month low, data from CoinGecko shows. 

Marking a bottom on any market action is difficult, but the price of ethereum still remains weak with more downside risks. Jim Hwang, COO of crypto investment firm Firinne Capital, told Sherwood News, “Looking back to the volatility back in April 2025, we see that there may be support around $1,500.” 

Meanwhile, spot ethereum ETFs have recorded $342 million in outflows so far this year. The token’s price action and ETF outflows are in “stark contradiction” to the network’s fundamentals, namely the increase in the amount of real-world assets tokenized and usage metrics, Hwang argued.

Ethereum’s price slump comes as cofounder Vitalik Buterin said on Tuesday that the “original vision of L2s and their role in Ethereum no longer makes sense,” pointing to how the progress of layer 2 networks has been slower and more difficult than initially expected, while the “L1 is itself scaling” and reducing fees.

Bitcoin dropped to its lowest level since November 6, 2024, the day after the US presidential election, when it had been in ascendance amid unbridled enthusiasm about the incoming “crypto president.”

While the asset had a quick rebound from the weekend bloodbath, it is now down 2.2% in the past hour, which has brought the price below its lows seen in the sessions following the announcement of reciprocal tariffs on “Liberation Day” in April 2025.

It briefly broke below $74,000 and, according to Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani, could still “bottom out” in the $60,000 levels.

Several experts said bitcoin was in the throes of a bear market, including Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan, who nevertheless said it was “close to an end.”

Bitfinex analysts said that the broader flow picture suggests a clear risk-off rotation, with investors reallocating toward cash and gold amid rising macroeconomic and political uncertainty.

“In this environment, the lack of ETF absorption has amplified downside volatility, reinforcing the importance of institutional spot demand as a stabilizing force during periods of market stress,” they said.

The price of solana is trading at $100, a nearly two-year low, but Standard Chartered forecasts that the token will climb to $250 by the end of 2026. 

Geoff Kendrick, the bank’s global head of digital asset research, pointed to flows on decentralized exchanges on solana beginning to shift from meme coins to solana-stablecoin pairs, aided by AI-driven micropayments. 

“AI-driven micropayments using stablecoins are starting to demonstrate that the ‘order of magnitude’ cost reduction on solana can enable entirely new markets (in this case micropayments) to develop,” Kendrick wrote in a Tuesday note. 

Market-implied probabilities derived from event contracts show that investors think there’s a 30% chance the token will go lower than $40 in 2026. On the bullish side, traders are pricing in a 41% chance it will climb higher that $200 in the same period.

(Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.)

Even though the firm expects solana to trade significantly higher by the end of the year, the firm lowered its initial forecast of $310 and predicts the token will underperform ethereum in the next two years.

“Beyond that, if it achieves sufficient scale, we think SOL will be due for a catch-up as this new market takes shape,” Kendrick said.

On a longer horizon, Standard Chartered predicts the token will climb to $2,000 by 2030.