Citigroup cut its Bitcoin target price from 112k to 82k, and Ethereum from 3,175 to 2,240, and directly zeroed out its ETF net inflow assumptions. This is not just the pessimism of one investment bank, but a microcosm of the ebb of institutional interest.

In June, spot Bitcoin ETFs saw a net outflow of $4.5 billion, the largest monthly outflow in history, with redemptions for the last nine consecutive trading days. Citigroup attributed this to weakening investor interest, slow legislative progress, and funds shifting to AI assets. The latter point is key—the flood of AI capital is draining liquidity from the crypto market.
Micron's net profit increased 15 times in one year, and it is expected to surpass Apple next quarter. SK Hynix's LTA contracts have no price caps, giving memory manufacturers pricing power. SemiAnalysis predicts that the AI inference market size may exceed that of oil. These signals point to a fact: global capital is repricing computing power, not digital gold.
The downside risk: Citigroup's forecast itself may accelerate capital outflows, becoming self-fulfilling. But the deeper question is that when institutional funds withdraw from the crypto market and shift to AI infrastructure, Bitcoin's "institutional narrative" needs to be revalidated. The threshold for the next bull market has risen from billions to trillions of dollars, and in the current macro environment, this money is more likely to flow to data centers rather than cold wallets.
$btc #eth #sk #lta #defi