Standard Chartered Cuts 2026 XRP Target 65% to $2.80, Keeps 2030 $28 Call
Standard Chartered sharply lowered its year-end 2026 price target for XRP from $8.00 to $2.80 (a 65% cut), citing weak recent price action, macro uncertainty, tighter liquidity and falling institutional inflows. Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank’s global head of digital assets research, communicated the revision. At publication XRP traded around $1.46–$1.48. The bank also trimmed 2026 targets for other major tokens — Bitcoin (BTC) to $100,000 from $150,000, Ether (ETH) to $4,000 from $7,000, and Solana (SOL) to $135 from $250 — reflecting a broader reassessment of risk assets. SoSoValue data cited by the report show XRP-linked ETP holdings fell from roughly $1.6 billion on Jan. 5 to about $1.0 billion by mid-February (~40% decline), underlining reduced institutional demand. Despite the near-term downgrade, Standard Chartered remains constructive on XRP’s long-term role in settlement infrastructure and tokenized real-world assets, maintaining a 2030 price forecast of $28.00. For traders, the update combines a major institutional price cut with evidence of ongoing outflows and fragile liquidity — implying elevated short-term downside risk, the possibility of corrective relief rallies, and a longer-term recovery scenario contingent on market stabilization and renewed institutional inflows. Key trade considerations: reduce position size or tighten stops in the near term, watch ETP flows and liquidity metrics, and treat rebounds cautiously until structural levels and ETF/ETP inflows improve.
Bearish
The downgrade is explicitly negative for XRP’s near-term price outlook. A 65% cut to the 2026 target from a major bank signals reduced institutional conviction. The report also documents a roughly 40% decline in XRP-linked ETP holdings, indicating weaker capital inflows and lower liquidity — factors that typically increase downside pressure and volatility. Standard Chartered’s retained 2030 $28 forecast provides a long-term bullish scenario, but that is contingent on broader market stabilization and renewed institutional flows. For traders, expect elevated short-term downside risk, increased probability that relief rallies will be corrective rather than trend-changing, and a longer recovery timeline that requires improvement in liquidity metrics and structural levels (e.g., regaining multi-dollar levels). Risk management actions — position reduction, tighter stops, monitoring ETP flows and liquidity — are prudent until evidence shows a sustained return of institutional demand.