Crypto prices encountered a mid-week uncertainty spike as market sentiment experienced a sharp retracement.
A deeper probe into the matter revealed that the uncertainty was largely driven by smart money manipulation of the market.
The market manipulation was evident as crypto prices (those that rallied earlier in the week) seemingly lost their momentum.
This was evident in the likes of BTC, BNB, and ETH, which experienced a noteworthy liquidation surge as their prices experienced pullbacks.
The volatility in crypto prices in the last 2 days consequently triggered uncertainty over whether the rally will continue.
Some saw this latest momentum cool down as a bearish sign, but bullish optimism remained.
Citibank Reveals Bullish Prediction for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Crypto Prices
Citibank recently revealed that it maintained a bullish bias over both Bitcoin and Ethereum in a surprising turn of events.
It reportedly expects the two cryptocurrencies to maintain an overall uptrend until late 2026.
The prediction was noteworthy because analysts have been attempting to predict when the current bull run will end. Analysts have historically used the Bitcoin halving cycle to predict market tops.
Based on historic data, market tops tend to occur between 12 and 16 months after the halving. By that logic, Bitcoin price should be approaching the tail end of its rally before the end of the year based on the market halving cycle.
Things could be different this time for crypto prices, partly due to institutional involvement, which has been a key factor driving Bitcoin price, as well as Ethereum price.
Risk analysis also revealed that the market still had significant room for growth before the risk profile points towards a potential top.
Low Altcoin Risk Profile Suggests that Altcoins Could Still Have Exciting Days Ahead
Citi Bank’s bullish bias aligned with the altcoins low risk profile. However, it did not necessarily guarantee that the crypto prices rally will extend towards the end of 2026.
Some analysts believe that the currency bullish cycle may not necessarily align with past cycles. Institutional involvement was one of the key reasons for this.
Some expect the current crypto prices cycle to be hugely different from past cycles, largely due to institutional involvement.
Since institutions demonstrated dominance over liquidity flows, they could potentially limit flows to top coins.
Top coins, especially those with ETFs, may continue to experience liquidity flows. The market has been anticipating ETF approvals for multiple altcoins to get things moving.
The recent government shutdown may lead to further delays in altcoin ETFs. Although there were some signs that altcoin season had already begun, liquidity rotation was limited to a few altcoins.
This could potentially continue to be the case for numerous reasons, including institutional liquidity focusing on a few coins.
Another potential reason why most altcoins may not benefit from liquidity rotation was the prevailing market narratives.
The current bull run has been more focused on some key narratives, such as tokenization and Real World Assets (RWAs).
Liquidity will likely flow into coins whose blockchains or protocols have been aligning with those narratives.
It was worth noting that the total market cap for altcoins excluding Ethereum and stablecoins hovered at around $873 billion.
This was just 16% away from its previous historic high in November 2021.
Note that while the total altcoin market cap could be headed for a recent of its historic top, higher liquidity inflows were expected in the current cycle.
This is because the crypto market expanded significantly compared to the prices during the 2021 bull run.