- Standard Chartered drops XRP price forecast.
- The bank previously predicted the crypto will hit $8 by the end of the year.
Standard Chartered has slashed its end-of-year price target for XRP by a staggering 65% as its analysts revise their outlook following February’s brutal crypto market selloff.
The British investment bank previously forecast XRP to hit $8 by the end of 2026. That prediction was lowered to $2.80 in a Thursday note to investors shared with DL News.
“Recent price action for digital assets has been challenging, to say the least,” Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank’s global head of digital assets research, said in the note. “We expect further declines near-term and we lower our forecasts across the asset class.”
In recent weeks, the crypto market has been hit by the worst market rout in almost four years.
Bitcoin fell 28% over the past month, hitting a low of $60,000 before rebounding.
Other crypto assets have fared just as poorly. Amid the rout, XRP briefly fell to $1.16, its lowest price in 15 months.
It has since bounced back, but is still down around 28% over the past month.
Big turnaround
It’s a big turnaround for the $90 billion Ripple-linked cryptocurrency.
By all accounts, XRP got off to a strong start in 2026. The asset rallied 25% in the first week of the year, buoyed by XRP exchange-traded fund inflows and regulatory tailwinds.
On January 5, the amount of money locked in XRP ETFs hit a record $1.6 billion, according to crypto data platform SoSoValue.
That figure has fallen to just over $1 billion — a 40% drop — as of February 13.
It’s not just XRP Standard Chartered has lowered its forecast for.
The bank also dropped its year-end target from $150,000 to $100,000 for Bitcoin, $7,000 to $4,000 for Ethereum, and $250 to $135 for Solana.
“We see XRP keeping pace with ETH. Both are likely to benefit from the further development of stablecoins and tokenised real-world assets,” Kendrick said.
Looking ahead
One of the biggest potential catalysts for a sustained XRP price recovery is the Clarity Act, a broad crypto market bill currently passing through the US Senate.
On Thursday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the passing of the clarity Act will help the crypto market recover.
Last month, Katherine Dowling, president of Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company, told DL News XRP has the most to gain from the successful passage of the Clarity Act.
Progress on the bill stalled last month after banking chiefs and crypto executives disagreed on key parts of the legislation.
But the delays could soon be over. On February 10, Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s chief legal officer, said that he’d had a “productive session” at the White House, and that now was the time to move ahead.
“Clear, bipartisan momentum remains behind sensible crypto market structure legislation,” Alderoty said. “We should move now — while the window is still open — and deliver a real win for consumers and America.”
Tim Craig is DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out with tips at tim@dlnews.com.
