Analysts at American bank Citigroup (C) are forecasting that the price of Ethereum (ETH) will end the year at $4,300 U.S., down about 5% from its current level of $4,515 U.S.
However, the year-end forecast is Citigroup’s base case for the cryptocurrency. The bank's full assessment has ETH trading in a range between $2,200 U.S. and $6,400 U.S. per digital token.
Analysts at Citigroup say network activity remains the main driver of Ethereum’s price and value. However, investor sentiment towards cryptocurrencies is also a factor.
Citigroup also notes that much of the rise in Ethereum’s price in recent months has been due to strong institutional buying and investor excitement around tokenization and stablecoins.
Plus, inflows to spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs), though smaller than Bitcoin’s (BTC), have a bigger price impact per dollar on ETH.
In coming months, Citigroup expects macroeconomic factors to add only modest support to Ethereum’s price and for enthusiasm related to risk assets such as crypto to cool.
The price of Ethereum has risen 35% this year, with much of that gain occurring since July.
