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Citi wants $5 billion flowing into crypto investment products over the next 12 months. That’s a big call, and the bank backed it with revised price targets — Bitcoin at $113,000 and Ethereum at $3,028.
Why It Matters
The launch of the Bitwise NEAR ETF alongside Citi's bullish price targets for Bitcoin and Ethereum highlights a growing institutional interest in cryptocurrency investment products. This shift could signify a pivotal moment for the market, as increased capital inflow may bolster liquidity and stability, potentially attracting further investment from both institutional and retail participants. Additionally, the projected price targets reflect a broader confidence in the resilience of the crypto market amid evolving macroeconomic conditions, suggesting a potential turning point in investor sentiment.
The $113,000 Bitcoin figure is a 37.8% jump from Citi’s previous estimates. Ethereum’s new target of $3,028 represents a 31% increase from earlier forecasts. Citi tied the optimism to favorable macroeconomic conditions and the anticipated pull of ETF flows into the market. No single catalyst, basically — just a broader sense that institutional money is getting more comfortable with crypto as an asset class. Whether $5 billion actually lands in the next 12 months is unclear, but the projection carries weight coming from a major bank.
Bitwise Rolls Out NEAR Token ETF
Bitwise launched a NEAR ETF in the United States, giving investors spot exposure to the NEAR token. The kicker: the product comes with an approximate 5% staking yield built in. That’s not nothing. Most traditional ETFs don’t offer any yield component at all, and crypto staking rewards have become a real draw for institutional players looking to generate passive income on top of price exposure.
Bitwise has a track record of pushing institutional crypto access forward, and the NEAR ETF fits that pattern. Combining direct token exposure with staking rewards in a single product is a pretty clean pitch for fund managers who want both upside and income. It’s unclear how much capital the product has pulled in so far — no figures on that yet.
The launch came at a complicated moment for NEAR’s ecosystem. NEAR Intents, a separate product built around the NEAR network, temporarily halted operations after a flaw in its Omni deposit and withdrawal system caused roughly $3.8 million in losses. The problem was traced to an interaction issue with the NEAR Intents smart contract specifically — not with the NEAR network itself. Worth separating those two things clearly.
NEAR Intents Exploit: $3.8 Million Gone
The NEAR Intents incident is the kind of thing that rattles retail confidence fast. A smart contract bug, $3.8 million out the door, operations halted. It’s a rough headline.
But the underlying NEAR network stayed intact. The exploit was contained to the Intents layer, and the broader ecosystem kept running. That distinction matters — it’s the difference between a protocol-level failure and a product-level failure. Still, it’s not a great look during the same week a major ETF launches around the token.
Smart contract risk isn’t new. It’s probably the single most persistent technical challenge in DeFi, and incidents like this are a reminder that even well-regarded projects can hit unexpected interaction bugs. No details yet on whether affected users will be compensated.
Zano Rolls Back 30 Days After Bug Mints $200M in Fake Tokens
Zano did something drastic. The privacy-focused blockchain rolled back its entire chain by 30 days after discovering a major bug that led to unauthorized token minting — worth over $200 million. That’s a staggering figure, and the rollback may be one of the longest in recent crypto history.
Rolling back a chain is a last resort. It means wiping out a month of legitimate transactions to eliminate the damage caused by the exploit. It works, technically, but it creates its own mess — users who made real transactions during that window effectively lose them.
Privacy coins like ZANO already face stiff competition from ZEC and XMR, both of which have deeper liquidity and more established communities. A 30-day rollback doesn’t help ZANO’s case for adoption. The team is focused on patching the vulnerability and stabilizing the platform, but the road back is probably long.
And then there’s the TRUMP memecoin. Down 97% from its peak since launching in January 2025, trading around $2, the team behind the token is organizing a gala event — dinner with former President Donald Trump included. The goal seems to be keeping holders engaged and maintaining some sense of community around a token that’s had a brutal run. Whether a dinner moves the needle on price is another question entirely. The coin has lost the vast majority of its value, and a gala isn’t a recovery plan. But the team is pressing forward.
Citi’s $5 billion projection, Bitwise’s staking ETF, a $3.8 million exploit, a 30-day chain rollback, and a memecoin dinner with a former president — it’s a lot of news for one cycle.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Citi’s 12-month Bitcoin price target?
Citi set a 12-month Bitcoin target of $113,000, a 37.8% increase from its previous estimates, alongside a $3,028 target for Ethereum.
What staking yield does the Bitwise NEAR ETF offer?
The Bitwise NEAR ETF offers approximately 5% staking yield on top of spot exposure to the NEAR token.
How much did the NEAR Intents exploit cost?
The NEAR Intents exploit resulted in roughly $3.8 million in losses due to a flaw in its Omni deposit and withdrawal system.
