In mid-February 2026, Standard Chartered issued a major revision to its digital asset outlook, slashing its year-end price target for XRP from $8 to $2.80. The 65% reduction, led by Geoffrey Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Assets Research, signals a sharp pivot from the bank’s highly optimistic January forecast.
The revision comes on the heels of a “brutal” market rout that saw Bitcoin dip toward $60,000 and XRP touch a low of $1.16 in early February. While XRP has since staged a modest recovery to approximately $1.47, analysts warn that the broader institutional environment remains “capitulation-prone.”
Key Drivers of the $2.80 Revision
Standard Chartered identified three primary factors forcing the lower valuation:
ETF Asset Depletion: Inflows into XRP-linked exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have cooled significantly. After hitting a record $1.6 billion in assets under management (AUM) on January 5, the total has plummeted to roughly $1 billion—a 40% drop in just six weeks.
Institutional Rotation: Higher interest rates and persistent geopolitical uncertainty in early 2026 have pushed institutional investors out of volatile altcoins and back into stable “haven” assets.
Regulatory Stalls: Progress on the Clarity Act—a US Senate bill viewed as the ultimate catalyst for XRP—has faced recent delays due to disagreements between banking chiefs and crypto executives, dampening immediate recovery hopes.
Revised 2026 Targets Across the Sector
Standard Chartered’s cautious stance was not limited to XRP, as the bank lowered targets across the entire asset class to reflect current liquidity constraints.
| Asset | Previous Target | New 2026 Target | % Reduction |
| Bitcoin (BTC) | $150,000 | $100,000 | 33% |
| Ethereum (ETH) | $7,000 | $4,000 | 43% |
| Solana (SOL) | $250 | $135 | 46% |
| XRP | $8.00 | $2.80 | 65% |
