Citi analysts this month warned that quantum computing could crack digital-asset cryptography by 2030, singling out Bitcoin as more vulnerable than Ethereum due to on-chain public-key exposure and a governance structure that resists rapid upgrades. The bank also raised its year-end Ethereum price target to $4,500 and its 12-month Bitcoin target to $181,000 — the highest call on the two largest cryptocurrencies from a major Wall Street firm this year.
Why Bitcoin is the bigger quantum risk
Bitcoin transactions expose the sender’s public key on-chain before the transaction is confirmed, creating a window for a quantum attacker to reverse-engineer the private key. Ethereum, by contrast, keeps public keys hidden behind hashed addresses until spending is required. Citi’s analysts argued that Bitcoin’s conservative governance — where protocol changes require near-unanimous miner and node consensus — makes migrating to quantum-resistant cryptography slow and politically contested. Ethereum’s history of frequent upgrades gives it structural flexibility to adapt faster.
The price targets — and the path to them
Citi set a 12-month Bitcoin price target of $181,000 and a year-end Ethereum target of $4,500, with a 12-month projection of $5,440. The bank noted Ethereum is currently consolidating around the $2,100 support level; a sustained close above $2,500 would signal a breakout toward the year-end call. Its bull-case scenario for Ethereum is $5,000 by mid-2026, assuming steady ETF demand and Layer-2 adoption without a major macro shock.
Bitcoin Hyper lands $32M
Separately, Bitcoin Hyper — a Bitcoin Layer 2 that integrates the Solana Virtual Machine — raised over $32 million at a presale price of $0.0136. The project is one of several attempting to bring smart-contract functionality to Bitcoin without altering its base layer, though Citi’s warning underscores the longer-term technical challenges facing any Bitcoin-based system.
Citi’s report doesn’t give a timeline for when quantum attacks might become economically viable, but the 2030 threshold puts pressure on both networks to begin planning. The bank’s next quarterly digital-assets update, expected in August, will likely revisit the quantum-risk timeline and may include more granular projections for crypto-native mitigation efforts.
