Citi’s Names Top Digital Asset Picks

Investing.com -- Citi continues to highlight Circle Internet Group and Bullish as two of its highest-conviction ideas in the digital asset space, citing differentiated exposure to stablecoin adoption and tokenized capital markets infrastructure.

Circle offers unique exposure to stablecoin growth and blockchain-based payments, while Bullish is positioned to benefit from the emergence of tokenized equity markets, according to Citi. The firm views the pending Equiniti integration and potential derivatives expansion at Bullish as meaningful sources of upside even if tokenized equity adoption develops more gradually than expected.

1. Circle Internet Group (CRCL)

Citi maintains a Buy rating with a $243.00 price target on Circle, compared to the current price of $83.87. The firm views Circle as one of the highest-quality ways to gain exposure to stablecoin and blockchain-based payments growth.

Circle launched its Arc mainnet on September 16, designed as financial infrastructure to support stablecoin payments, tokenized assets, foreign exchange, treasury management, and institutional settlement. Since launch, the network has accumulated approximately $560 million in DeFi total value locked and more than $510 million in stablecoin supply, approximately 98% of which is USDC.

Arc's institutional focus is reinforced by a founding validator group that includes BlackRock, DTCC, Visa, Mastercard, ICE, BNY, and Standard Chartered. Circle disclosed approximately $500,000 in network transaction fees during Arc's first week.

Under a partnership with Hyperliquid announced in 2026, Circle shares roughly 90% of cost-adjusted reserve yield earned on Hyperliquid-resident USDC back to the protocol. The first distribution, settled October 3, 2026, totaled $14.58 million, annualizing to roughly $175 million to $193 million per year.

2. Bullish (BLSH)

Citi maintains a Buy rating with a $50.00 price target on Bullish, compared to the current price of $31.63. The firm views Bullish as an attractive way to gain exposure to tokenized capital markets.

Citi believes Bullish's pending acquisition of Equiniti could provide a strategic advantage through ownership of the issuer relationship itself. The combination should position the company to drive issuer adoption while capturing a larger portion of the economic value chain.

Management has expressed increasing confidence in opportunities to automate workflows and improve operations at Equiniti, targeting $25 million to $50 million of annualized net cost reductions. Citi forecasts third-quarter 2026 revenue of approximately $82.6 million and adjusted EBITDA of $28.2 million for Bullish.

Original Article

You May Also Be Interested In

• Opko Health stock soars on $722M BioReference asset sale
• CarMax stock climbs after BofA upgrades to Buy on improving outlook
• StoneX cuts Spotify to Hold on margin pressure, label costs