XRP has enjoyed a strong start to the year. Up over 20% from December lows, Ripple Labs’ native token, XRP, along with the broader crypto market, is on a hot streak. And yet, XRP’s price now sits approximately where it did at the beginning of 2025.
Put another way: XRP ended 2025 at a lower price than where it started the year. Yes, that’s right. XRP lost value in 2025 and has only now gotten back to the price where it started last year. However, if one considers a few key events, a more nuanced story emerges.
Donald Trump and the SEC
The first and foremost key event is the election of Donald Trump in early November 2024. Throughout his campaign, Trump curried favor with the crypto crowd by promising to loosen and clarify regulations. From the moment he won, crypto and crypto-related stocks began to boom.
By the time of Trump’s inauguration two months later, XRP had risen 500%.
While Trump’s pro-crypto rhetoric pumped nearly every major crypto out there, XRP especially benefited from his victory. Ripple had been in the crosshairs of the SEC for years, and its fate largely hung in the balance of the election outcome. As it went, Trump won the election, and ten months later, the SEC dropped its lawsuit against Ripple and XRP.
Both times, after Trump’s inauguration and the SEC’s decision, XRP’s price dropped considerably, but not before also rising considerably in the build-up to each respective event. It seems, perhaps, investors and speculators had already gotten their fill. The old stock-trading adage “buy the rumor, sell the news” seems apropos.
The Road Ahead
XRP’s price sits at well over 400% of its value just before the 2024 November election. While a speculative mania certainly gripped investors after Trump’s election, the distinct possibility of the SEC lawsuit being dropped was cause for an XRP price increase. The question is: what will drive XRP’s price in 2026?
XRP’s long-term price prospects, beyond hype and speculation, are increasingly tied to Ripple’s expanding footprint within global finance. With RippleNet now connecting more than 300 banks and financial institutions across over 45 countries, the company has quietly built one of the largest blockchain-based payment networks in the world.
RippleNet’s client base spans major financial hubs in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East. Large banks such as Santander use Ripple’s technology to power faster consumer remittances. U.S. banks have also shown interest. PNC Bank has joined RippleNet, and Bank of America has confirmed pilot programs using Ripple’s infrastructure.
However, few of these 300 banks are using XRP for settlement. Many institutions rely solely on Ripple’s messaging and tracking tools, which allow faster transfers without exposure to cryptocurrency price volatility.
Meanwhile, stablecoins, such as Ripple’s RLUSD, are seeing wider and wider adoption. Traditional banks have historically favored stable-value assets, so it follows that banks have shown growing interest in fiat-backed stablecoins rather than floating cryptocurrencies like XRP.
Ripple executives have conceded that adoption is going more slowly than they would like. Former Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz has admitted that many institutions still prefer off-chain settlement, though he believes new compliance-focused features could encourage more on-chain XRP activity.
However, Schwartz has also defended Ripple’s diversification into other revenue streams, which critics see as a way of Ripple putting XRP on the back burner.
Assets Under Management
The emergence of spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs), as reported by Disruption Banking here, has further reduced barriers to entry. These products allow investors to gain exposure without directly holding the asset, similar to what fueled strong demand for Bitcoin following ETF approvals.
Since their inception in November, grantor-spot XRP ETFs have attracted $1.37 billion in net assets and $1.18 billion in net inflows to date. At the same time, XRP balances on exchanges have fallen to their lowest levels in years. Historically, this combination of steady demand and tightening liquidity has supported price appreciation.
Some analysts, including those at Standard Chartered, project XRP could reach the $7–$8 range by 2026, citing ETF adoption, regulatory clarity, and institutional participation. This forecast implies significant upside from recent price levels.
However, not everyone shares that optimism. More conservative analysts cite the billions of XRP Ripple holds in escrow, arguing that XRP does not operate from a scarcity model such as Bitcoin. From a utility standpoint, critics also argue that XRP’s actual transaction usage has declined in recent years and that competition from established stablecoins may limit its role as a bridge currency.
Ultimately, a change in interest rates by the Federal Reserve is just as likely to move the price needle of XRP as anything else. In the meantime, XRP ETFs represent roughly 1% of the circulating supply. However, if net inflow and institutional investment continue to grow in 2026, ETFs could power a move higher as they did for Bitcoin.
The Bottom Line for 2026
An upwards move in XRP’s price will likely depend on macro crypto market sentiment, as well as sustained investor interest via ETFs.
From the utility side of things, if Ripple succeeds in converting its extensive list of partners into active users of XRP-powered liquidity, the token could enjoy a higher price subsequently. By extension, positive news coverage of further XRP adoption would also likely boost the price via an inflow of investor money.
By the end of 2026, XRP’s price is likely to be shaped less by courtroom victories or campaign promises and more by measurable adoption and capital flows. If Ripple can translate its global banking relationships into meaningful XRP settlement activity while ETF inflows continue and macro conditions remain supportive, the token could justify materially higher valuations.
If not, XRP may remain range-bound, supported by investor demand but constrained by limited utility growth, escrow supply dynamics, and competition from stablecoins. The coming year will test whether XRP can evolve from a politically resilient asset into a structurally indispensable one.
Author: Tim Tolka, Senior Reporter
#Crypto #Blockchain #DigitalAssets #DeFi
The editorial team at #DisruptionBanking has taken all precautions to ensure that no persons or organizations have been adversely affected or offered any sort of financial advice in this article. This article is most definitely not financial advice.
