Citigroup has significantly revised its 12-month price forecasts for leading cryptocurrencies, lifting the target for Bitcoin from $82,000 to $113,000 and for Ethereum from $2,240 to $3,028. The revision reflects increased trading activity in crypto markets, a supportive macroeconomic environment, and renewed inflows into exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Citigroup has adjusted its 12-month targets for Bitcoin and Ethereum due to a strengthening market activity, favorable macro conditions, and a rebound in ETF flows.

The bank anticipates a total inflow of $5 billion into cryptocurrencies over the upcoming year. This influx is expected to progress at a slower but more stable pace compared to previous periods. Citigroup foresees a gradual increase in Bitcoin allocations by investment advisors and brokerage firms supporting this process.

Revival in ETF Inflows
This expectation marks a notable change compared to the previous year’s data. According to SoSoValue, spot Bitcoin ETFs saw marginal net outflows over the 12 months ending in September, with six months of negative flows and a significant $4.51 billion outflow recorded in June alone. Contrastingly, since the beginning of 2026, inflows have reached $880 million, whereas 2025 registered a total of $21.37 billion.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced nine straight days of net inflows, gathering $3.08 billion since September 17.

In periods driven by both technical levels and news flow, investors strive to track data more swiftly. With sudden policy shifts by the Federal Reserve or unexpected altcoin listings capable of altering markets in seconds, traders lose money navigating between various tools for charts, news, and portfolio monitoring. Savvy traders increasingly rely on privacy-focused tools like CryptoAppsy, offering unified access to real-time charts, intelligent price alerts, coin-specific news, and crucial macroeconomic data without needing account creation.

Bitcoin Lags Behind Previous High
Nevertheless, Citigroup’s $113,000 Bitcoin target remains below the historical peak of about $126,200 reached in October 2025. Thus, the bank’s 12-month forecast is approximately 10% short of this record. Recently, Bitcoin breached $85,000 briefly but remains about a third below its all-time high.

Every October, Singapore's Marina Bay Sands undergoes a transformation.

The luxury resort's five floors fill up with founders, investors, policymakers, and builders from across the global crypto and Web3 ecosystem, all in town for TOKEN2049, the industry's flagship annual conference.
TOKEN2049, for the uninitiated, is one of the largest crypto-focused events in the world.

Held twice a year, alternating between Singapore and Dubai, it brings together thousands of participants for two days of keynotes, product launches, panel discussions, networking, and side events that spill across the host city for an entire week.

What the 2025 edition looked like
Last year's Singapore edition set a new benchmark for the event. Over 25,000 attendees from more than 7,000 companies packed the venue across two days, with 500-plus exhibitors while over 1,000 side events turned the week into a citywide gathering for the industry.

The main-stage lineup featured names like Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, Maelstrom's Arthur Hayes, Binance CEO Richard Teng, and OKX CEO Star Xu, alongside crossover appearances from Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso.
The event closed out with ziplines, DJ sets, and late-night sessions that carried conversations well past conference halls.

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What's coming in 2026
This year's edition is set for October 7–8, 2026, and it's shaping up to be even more ambitious. With the Dubai edition moved to 2027, Singapore gets the organizers' undivided attention.

Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman is confirmed to appear alongside Eric Trump and hedge fund manager Tom Lee, joined by crypto-native founders like Polymarket's Shayne Coplan and Hyperliquid Labs' Jeff Yan.

Executives from BlackRock, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley are also expected to attend.
Beyond the main stages, TOKEN2049 Week includes a 36-hour hackathon called TOKEN2049 Origins, the Nexus Startup Competition judged by firms like Dragonfly and Multicoin, and over 1,000 side events across Singapore, all coinciding with Grand Prix weekend.

The official closing party, After 2049, takes over the 57th floor of the Marina Bay Sands SkyPark on October 9, headlined by house producer Claptone.

For anyone tracking where institutional finance and crypto intersect, or simply looking to be in the room where the industry's next moves get announced, TOKEN2049 Singapore remains the calendar event that's hard to ignore.

DeFi Technologies Inc's (NASDAQ: DEFT) investment product arm Valour has launched an exchange-traded product (ETP) tied to Zcash, giving European investors a regulated way to own exposure to the best-performing major cryptocurrency of the past two years, without touching the coin itself.

The Valour Zcash (ZEC) SEK ETP began trading on Sweden's Spotlight Stock Market on Sept. 29 with a management fee of 1.9%.

The product lets investors track ZEC's price through a standard brokerage account, sidestepping the crypto wallet setup and self-custody that buying the token directly requires.
Related: Major gold holder suffers $2.65 billion paper loss on bullion hitting 7-week low

The token behind the product is up more than 6,000%
The launch chases one of crypto's most violent repricings.

ZEC traded near $16 in 2024; on Sept. 4 it crossed $1,000 for the first time, burning $34 million of short positions, and has since traded as high as the mid-$1,500s, a gain of more than 6,000% from its 2024 low that has made it the standout privacy trade of this cycle.
Institutional wrappers have been arriving in step. Grayscale converted its nine-year-old Zcash Trust into the first U.S. spot Zcash ETF in late August, bringing roughly $300 million to market on NYSE Arca under the ticker ZCSH, a listing that helped power the September leg of the rally. Valour's ETP extends that access to European exchanges.
Zcash launched in 2016 and was the first widely used application of zk-SNARKs, a type of zero-knowledge proof that lets a transaction be verified without revealing the sender, receiver, or amount. Users choose between "shielded" transactions that keep that data private and "transparent" ones that work like standard blockchain transfers. ZEC is the network's native token, used for payments and fees.
“Zcash represents one of the most important early applications of zero-knowledge cryptography in digital assets, and interest in privacy-preserving blockchain infrastructure continues to grow,” Johan Wattenström, chief executive officer of DeFi Technologies, said in the announcement.

The issuer says the demand is coming from close to home.

“We have seen growing interest in ZEC from both professional and Nordic retail investors,” said Jacob Lindberg, chief revenue officer of Valour. “The demand for a listed product tracking ZEC has been clear. Bringing Zcash to Spotlight gives investors a familiar way to gain exposure through their existing brokerage infrastructure without having to purchase, store or manage the underlying digital asset directly.”

Strategy has boosted its Bitcoin holdings to a new record, acquiring 1,665 BTC for $142.7 million last week and reclaiming its spot as the public company with the largest Bitcoin treasury. The company’s latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission confirms its reserves have reached 847,666 BTC, exceeding previous highs set before its recent portfolio adjustments.

Record Bitcoin accumulation
The recent acquisition raised Strategy’s Bitcoin balance above its previous peak of 847,363 BTC recorded in June. Led by Michael Saylor, the firm paid an average price of $85,681 per Bitcoin in the most recent purchase, following a brief period during which it sold some of its cryptocurrency reserves to manage its financial position. Strategy resumed buying activity in August, further demonstrating its ongoing commitment to Bitcoin accumulation.

Overall, the company has invested $63.95 billion to amass its current Bitcoin portfolio, at an average acquisition cost of $75,437 per BTC. Based on market prices of approximately $83,400 per Bitcoin at the time of the latest filing, the total value of Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings stands at roughly $70.6 billion—about $6.6 billion above the cumulative cost basis.

Strategy funded the recent Bitcoin purchase by raising $246.2 million through the sale of 1,469,165 MSTR shares via its at-the-market program. Of this, $142.7 million was allocated to buying Bitcoin, while $103.5 million supported the repurchase of preferred stock.

Strategy’s Bitcoin stash now totals 847,666 BTC, the highest amount ever held by a public company, following purchases at an average price of $85,681 per Bitcoin, pushing its overall investment to $63.95 billion.

Preferred stock buyback and financial updates
In addition to the Bitcoin acquisition, Strategy spent $151.7 million repurchasing 1,534,530 shares of its Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred stock (STRC). Funding for this buyback included $103.5 million from MSTR equity sales and $48.1 million from the firm’s USD cash balance. The intent is to help restore STRC’s market value toward its $100 par level, a threshold the security has not consistently maintained.

Following these transactions, Strategy’s USD cash position dropped to $1 billion. The company’s USD Reserve decreased to $5.02 billion after accounting for $22.1 million in preferred dividends, while $723.5 million remains available under its digital credit securities repurchase program.

Dividend policy proposal
Strategy is also advancing measures aimed at stabilizing its preferred securities. On September 25, the company proposed shifting STRC, along with STRD, STRF, and STRK, to a daily dividend schedule. Common shareholders will vote on October 28 to approve the change. If passed, STRC will transition to daily payments starting November 2, with no modifications to coupon rates or overall dividend obligations. Preferred shareholders do not participate in this vote.

Strategy’s move to introduce daily dividends for preferred shares aims to strengthen stability, with the first daily payouts for STRC potentially starting as early as November 2 if approved by common stockholders.

Broader ecosystem trends: Meme token activity surges
As large entities like Strategy pursue high-profile Bitcoin acquisitions, the cryptocurrency landscape continues to see marked activity in meme token markets. In these fast-moving segments, technical analysis and market monitoring are vital as influence shifts rapidly due to online trends. For instance, Fomo App recently shared data highlighting a trade in the “Niu Lai” token, where an initial investment of $99 ballooned to approximately $370,000. This example underscores the importance of tracking not just prices but also the investment timing and token selection.
Fomo App is designed to support such strategies by providing an integrated platform for meme token discovery and trading. Its features, including social feeds, investor rankings, and trade notifications, aim to give users timely insight into dynamic investor activity. This may aid in capturing new opportunities as speculative trends unfold rapidly across the crypto sector.

Litecoin has pushed above the range that capped it for most of 2026.

A long-term moving average and a key Fibonacci level meet just above the current price.
Leverage is driving much of the rally, with futures positioning roughly doubling this month.
LitVM, the smart contract layer due on mainnet in the fourth quarter, is the project’s main new demand argument.

Litecoin (LTC) traded at $73.23 on Binance on Saturday. That is up almost 25% for the week and the highest price since early January. A two-week run pushed the coin out of the range that had stopped every recovery attempt since the start of 2026. LTC now sits roughly 9% below $80, where its 200-week moving average and a major Fibonacci retracement meet. Over the same period, futures open interest climbed to about $688 million. The project’s official X account used the momentum to make its case for LitVM, the smart contract layer scheduled to launch on mainnet in the fourth quarter.
The move stands out against the rest of the market. LTC gained about 37% in September, its best month since November 2024, while Bitcoin fell 3% on the day LTC broke above $60. The Litecoin Foundation pointed to on-chain activity, saying more than 17 million LTC, worth over $1 billion, moved across the network in a single 24-hour period this week.

Litecoin clears the $62 lid that held from January to September
On the weekly chart, Litecoin’s decline began well before this year. The coin topped out near $135 in the autumn of 2025 and printed lower highs through November. It lost the $80 area in the last weeks of December. From January to April it traded sideways between roughly $50 and $62. A second leg down in May and June then took it to about $40.

It landed almost exactly on the June 2022 bottom near $39.80, the level that anchors the Fibonacci grid on the chart. Buyers defended the same price in two bear markets four years apart. The base LTC built on it through July and August is where this month’s rally started.

This week’s candle opened at $58.73 and touched $75. With about a day and a half left before Sunday’s close, it sits at $73.23. For readers who don’t trade, $62 was the price where sellers stepped in every time LTC tried to recover this year. The market has now gone through it with room to spare. If the week closes near current levels, that old ceiling becomes the first place buyers would be expected to defend on a pullback.

The 200-week average at $80.06 is where the 2025 breakdown started
The broader downtrend from the $135 top has not ended on this chart. Price remains below the 200-week simple moving average at $80.06, which averages almost four years of weekly closes.Litecoin traded above that line during both of its recent rallies, from November 2024 to February 2025 and again from July to October 2025. The December weeks when it fell through were the weeks the selling accelerated.

The 0.618 Fibonacci retracement sits at $80.37, and the late-2025 support zone that broke in December overlaps both. When a long-term average, a retracement level and a former floor land within 40 cents of each other, holders who bought higher tend to sell into it. Many of them have waited nine months to get their money back.

The weekly MACD histogram has printed green bars for months and shows its largest reading in about a year. The MACD line itself stands at -0.25, a fraction from crossing above zero for the first time since the autumn of 2025. In plain terms, recent weekly gains now outweigh the longer average of the move. That shift tends to show up early in a trend change.

$688 million in futures bets now matches the level that came before February’s 14% drop
CoinGlass data showed aggregate Litecoin open interest at $688.02 million early on Saturday, with LTC at $72.46. The figure spent most of the summer between $300 million and $400 million. That means the September rally has roughly doubled the capital committed to leveraged LTC bets. CoinMarketCap data from September 24 put futures volume at about $1.19 billion, around five times spot volume.

Open interest counts contracts that are still open. When it rises with price, new money is entering positions, usually traders buying perpetual futures on the way up. Short sellers forced to cover add extra fuel. Much of that buying runs on borrowed money. A 10% drop against highly leveraged longs forces exchanges to close them, and those forced sales push price lower still.

LTC has been through this sequence twice in the past year. Open interest peaked above $1.2 billion in August 2025, when LTC traded above $120, and price has not been back there since. A second spike near $680 million came in early January 2026. On February 5, LTC lost roughly 14% in a single day. Today’s reading matches that January peak.

Spot demand looks thinner by comparison. Canary Capital’s spot Litecoin ETF, LTCC, took in $1.73 million on September 24, its largest single-day inflow. That equals roughly 0.25% of the $688 million sitting in open futures positions.

Ondo launched three tokenized portfolios based on BlackRock strategies.

Investors can access diversified baskets through single transferable tokens.
Products are available outside the US in permitted jurisdictions.

Ondo tokenized portfolios launched on Thursday with strategies developed from BlackRock model portfolio designs. The products allow eligible investors outside the US to access diversified investment baskets through single onchain tokens. In a press release, Ondo Finance said the portfolios make holdings, weights, and rebalancing activity visible through blockchain technology.
Introducing Ondo Intelligent Portfolios, the first three portfolios powered by BlackRock.

Ondo Intelligent Portfolios introduces a new onchain product category: curated investment portfolios delivered as single onchain transferable tokens.

Ondo launched three tokenized portfolios based on BlackRock strategies.
Investors can access diversified baskets through single transferable tokens.
Products are available outside the US in permitted jurisdictions.

Ondo tokenized portfolios launched on Thursday with strategies developed from BlackRock model portfolio designs. The products allow eligible investors outside the US to access diversified investment baskets through single onchain tokens. In a press release, Ondo Finance said the portfolios make holdings, weights, and rebalancing activity visible through blockchain technology.
Introducing Ondo Intelligent Portfolios, the first three portfolios powered by BlackRock.

Ondo Intelligent Portfolios introduces a new onchain product category: curated investment portfolios delivered as single onchain transferable tokens.

In the announcement, the new Ondo tokenized portfolios include High Income Powered by BlackRock, Diversified Growth Powered by BlackRock, and High Growth Powered by BlackRock. Each product allows users to mint or redeem one token instead of managing individual assets separately.
The tokens can move between compatible wallets, exchanges, and decentralized finance applications. Ondo said each portfolio token is issued by Ondo Global Markets and tokenized by Ondo Finance. The products remain available only to eligible investors in approved jurisdictions.

BlackRock provides nondiscretionary model portfolio strategies but does not manage the tokenized products. The asset manager also does not handle issuance, custody, distribution, or daily operations.
Ondo Tokenized Portfolios Expand Real World Asset Access
The launch builds on growing interest in tokenized investments and real world assets. BlackRock previously entered the sector through its BUIDL tokenized money market fund launched with Securitize in 2024.
Ondo has also expanded its tokenization services through products linked to traditional assets. The company said it plans to introduce additional onchain portfolios over time.

Ondo tokenized portfolios combine traditional portfolio construction with blockchain-based transfer features. The structure lets investors hold exposure to multiple assets through a single token while maintaining visibility into portfolio changes.

The ONDO token also gained market attention following the announcement. ONDO traded around $0.48, rising more than 16%, while weekly gains exceeded 37% based on the supplied market data. The launch marks another step in expanding institutional-style investment products into blockchain-based markets.

Blockchain com and the New York Stock Exchange have signed a memorandum of understanding to give Blockchain com users access to tokenized US-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds through NYSE’s planned digital trading platform.

Under the proposed arrangement, Blockchain com would distribute tokenized US equities and ETFs traded on NYSE’s digital alternative trading system (ATS), subject to regulatory approval. The deal would extend NYSE’s planned tokenized securities offering to Blockchain com’s global customer base.

The agreement also covers an exchange of market data. NYSE affiliate ICE Data Services plans to distribute Blockchain com’s crypto market data and analytics to its clients, while Blockchain com would add certain ICE and NYSE market data feeds to its platform.

Reid Noch, vice president of US equity market structure at TD Securities, told Cointelegraph that NYSE’s planned tokenized ATS appears “primarily like a play for retail flow,” pointing to its planned 24/7 trading and request-for-quote functionality. Because retail trades are already pre-funded, Noch said the shift to instant settlement would require little change to existing retail workflows.

“The bigger differentiator is true weekend trading,” Noch said. “This could be impactful for retail heavy names or around episodic news events, similar to what we saw with tokenized oil PERPs during the start of the Iran conflict that started over the weekend.”

Related: Ondo lets institutions convert stocks directly into tokenized shares
Exchanges race into tokenized stocks
“Crypto venues are becoming multi-asset platforms, and traditional assets are adopting the 24/7, programmable structure crypto pioneered,” Tanay Ved, senior research associate at institutional digital asset technology firm Talos, said in comments shared with Cointelegraph.

That shift is playing out across major exchanges. Kraken offers xStocks and has partnered with Nasdaq on a separate tokenized equity model, while Binance, Coinbase and Robinhood have rolled out their own approaches to bringing equities onchain.
However, Ved said the different approaches involve trade-offs between ownership and accessibility:

The models of tokenization sit across a spectrum, from issuer-native equity to custodial exposure to pure derivatives. Each trades ownership for accessibility. Which model wins out is yet to be seen, as we sit in the early innings of adoption. For exchanges, the opportunity is a more diversified revenue base and for the market, the line between crypto and traditional assets continues to blur.

SEC opens path for tokenized stocks
The partnership also comes less than a week after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced a five-year “Innovation Exemption” for certain tokenized securities venues.

Under the exemption, eligible tokenized securities venues can use permissioned automated market maker liquidity pools to facilitate trading without being treated as exchanges under the Exchange Act. Among the conditions, venues must ensure that tokenized stocks carry the same rights and privileges as equivalent traditional shares.
Those requirements exclude some existing products from the exemption in their current form, including Kraken’s xStocks and Robinhood’s Stock Tokens, which provide exposure to underlying equities but do not give holders the same rights as conventional shareholders.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is planning to allocate a small portion of its own funds to invest in tokenized public-sector securities, as it takes its first steps into distributed ledger technology for asset management.

Investment in tokenized assets
The ECB will make these purchases from a non-monetary-policy portfolio, which is typically used to generate income supporting its operational expenses. Initial investments will target securities denominated in euros and issued by euro-area central and regional governments, public agencies, and European supranational entities.

The timing and operational specifics of the investments will be finalized by the ECB’s Executive Board after the necessary preparatory work is finished.

DLT-based settlement system
The transactions will be settled through Pontes, the Eurosystem’s new settlement platform designed for distributed ledger technology (DLT) based transactions. Pontes officially launched on Monday, marking a significant step for the Eurosystem in exploring the integration of DLT within established financial infrastructure.

By using Pontes, the ECB seeks to gain firsthand experience across the entire investment process, including trade execution, settlement, system operation, and portfolio management. The stated goal of this pilot initiative is to better understand how tokenized assets and advanced settlement platforms interact within the broader financial system.

Mini dictionary: Pontes, launched by the Eurosystem, is a dedicated platform facilitating the settlement of financial transactions conducted via distributed ledger technology, ensuring that such settlements remain anchored in central bank money for greater stability and minimal counterparty risk.

Coordination with European partners
The European Stability Mechanism, the euro area’s crisis resolution fund, remarked that Pontes will act as a bridge between new DLT-based platforms and the existing central bank infrastructure. This approach is intended to maintain the role of central bank money as the primary settlement asset, even as financial markets increasingly adopt tokenized instruments.

By investing in tokenized public-sector securities and utilizing Pontes for settlement, the ECB aims to directly observe and manage every stage of the investment lifecycle, from execution to portfolio management.

This initiative is part of the ECB’s broader strategy to explore technological innovations in finance without compromising the security and trust built into existing systems.

Officials have emphasized that only a modest allocation of the ECB’s own funds will be used for this project, ensuring that monetary policy is kept separate from the exploration of innovative financial instruments.

The pilot represents a significant development in the European financial sector’s shift toward digital assets and infrastructure modernization.

Industry observers expect the pilot to provide valuable insights that could influence the integration of blockchain technologies in future central banking operations across the continent.

The ECB’s move comes at a time when central banks worldwide are assessing the risks and opportunities associated with digital assets and the possible role of distributed ledgers in modern finance.

Strategy has increased its total Bitcoin holdings to 846,000 BTC after acquiring an additional 950 coins. The company also bought back $174 million worth of its STRC preferred stock, according to its latest financial disclosures.

BTC position and stock buyback activity
Before this latest purchase, Strategy previously reported holding 845,050 BTC at an average acquisition price of $75,412 per coin. The cumulative cost for these purchases stood at about $63.73 billion, accounting for fees and expenses. With the addition of 950 BTC, the firm’s portfolio now totals 846,000 BTC.

Strategy experienced unrealized losses above $10 billion during a previous downturn in the crypto market. The Tysons Corner-based company detailed its recent activity spanning up to September 13 within a Form 8-K filing.

This filing followed Strategy’s September 14 announcement and reaffirmed that STRF, STRC, STRK, STRD, and MSTR shares all list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

From September 8 to September 13, Strategy repurchased 1,420,467 shares of its Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock, STRC, with an aggregate purchase price of $139.3 million. The company did not buy back any other preferred securities or MSTR common shares during the period, nor did it sell any shares via its at-the-market program.

In its latest announcement, Strategy also confirmed $174 million in aggregate STRC repurchases. As of September 13, $1.05 billion of capacity remained under its digital credit securities repurchase program, while a further $1.0 billion was available for possible MSTR stock buybacks. Funding for the recent STRC purchases came from Strategy’s USD Cash reserves.

In recent company filings, Strategy outlined that as of September 13, the aggregate purchase price remaining available for the digital credit securities repurchase program stood at $1.05 billion, while another $1.0 billion was available for MSTR stock repurchases. The company used USD Cash reserves to fund STRC purchases during the previous week.

USD reserve status and Strive’s recent BTC acquisition
Strategy employs a USD reserve to support dividend obligations on preferred stock and to cover interest payments related to its outstanding debt. Additionally, the company maintains USD Cash to finance Bitcoin acquisitions, reserve expansion, and other treasury functions. As of September 13, the firm’s USD Reserve was reported at $5.10 billion, with an additional $1.30 billion held as USD Cash.

In a separate update, Strive CEO Matt Cole shared that the institution recently bought 1,355 BTC for $107.7 million, averaging $79,475 per coin. Strive’s total Bitcoin holdings now total 26,355 BTC. Cole also indicated that Strive began accepting warrant exercises last week, raising $21.2 million in gross proceeds and bringing SATA’s share of total capital raised to 57.7%.

Monitoring technical indicators and market trends has become increasingly vital in the evolving digital asset space. In the meme token segment, viral internet trends have the potential to generate millions of dollars in trading volume within a matter of days. Data from Fomo App highlighted a recent trade involving the “Niu Lai” meme token, in which an initial investment of $99 reportedly grew to roughly $370,000, underscoring the rapid momentum and volatile nature of this arena. For participants in this market, tracking both the timing and selection of tokens by other investors is crucial. Fomo App offers a platform that merges token discovery and social-driven trade activity, featuring tools such as investor rankings and real-time trade notifications, allowing users to better follow meme token developments along with investor sentiment.

Strategy’s BTC holding increase and Strive’s latest purchase reflect how institutional players continue to shape their Bitcoin investment strategies while managing capital reserves and stock buybacks.