Wall Street Bank Citigroup Sees Ether Falling to $4,300 by Year-End

Citigroup forecasts Ethereum's price to reach $4,300 by the end of the year, down from the current $4,515.
The bank's predictions range widely, with a bullish scenario at $6,400 and a bearish one at $2,200.
Network activity is identified as a key driver for Ethereum's value. However, much of the recent growth occurs on layer-2 solutions, where the impact on Ethereum's base layer remains uncertain.
Citi estimates only 30% of layer-2 activity affects Ethereum's valuation, suggesting current prices may be inflated due to strong inflows and interest in tokenization and stablecoins.
Exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows have a larger price impact per dollar than Bitcoin but are expected to remain limited due to Ethereum's smaller market cap and lower visibility among new investors.
Macro factors provide limited support, with equities already near Citigroup's S&P 500 target of 6,600, indicating limited upside potential from risk assets.