- Standard Chartered Bank has lowered its cryptocurrency price forecasts for 2026, most significantly for XRP. The token is now only expected to be worth $2.8 instead of $8 at the end of the year.
- Analysts at the major British bank are also warning of continued pressure on the entire market and are talking about one of the most difficult months in years.
The revaluation was triggered by the exceptionally strong sell-off in the crypto sector. February is valid in the Standard Chartered Analyse as the weakest month in almost four years. Bitcoin temporarily fell to around $60,000, losing almost 30 percent month-on-month.
XRP slipped to $1.08, its lowest price in 15 months. The bank points to a “challenging market environment” characterized by declining liquidity, low risk appetite and weak capital flows. These factors would have required a reassessment of the medium-term price targets.
ETF outflows put additional strain on XRP
The significant decline in capital inflows into the XRP ETFs is particularly difficult for Standard Chartered. While they had a TVL of around $1.6 billion at the beginning of January, it shrank to around one billion by mid-February.
That’s a decrease of around 40 percent. The analysts see this as a clear signal that institutional investors are currently in “wait and see” mode. This development weakens the fundamental basis for XRP and justifies the significantly reduced price expectations.
Reassessing the crypto industry
The downgrade doesn’t just affect XRP. Standard Chartered also lowered forecasts for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana.
The bank now expects only 100,000 instead of 150,000 for Bitcoin, 4,000 instead of 7,000 for Ethereum and 135 instead of 250 dollars for Solana, based on the end of the year.
The bank justifies its drastic corrections with a structurally weaker market environment, which could encourage further declines in the short term.
Clarity Act could help — if it finally came along
In particular, the Clarity Act being discussed in the USA could support XRP in the long term, as the law would finally create clear crypto regulation.
Ripple chief lawyer Stuart Alderoty recently described discussions in the White House as “productive”.
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