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$XRP The British investment bank **Standard Chartered** lowered its year-end XRP price target from $8 to $2.80 following the cryptocurrency market crash in February. This represents a significant downward adjustment of 65%.
The bank expects additional short-term price declines across digital assets.
**Geoffrey Kendrick**, the global head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, has downgraded the outlook for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and other major cryptocurrencies.
This adjustment reflects industry conditions that analysts have evaluated as the worst recession in about four years.
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Market conditions are driving downward adjustments
XRP fell to $1.16 last month, marking its lowest level since November 2024, before recovering somewhat. The token is currently trading at about 59% lower than its all-time high of around $3.40 in July 2025.
Standard Chartered has also downgraded its broader cryptocurrency outlook, lowering the Bitcoin target from $150,000 to $100,000, Ethereum from $7,000 to $4,000, and Solana from $250 to $135.
Kendrick warned that Bitcoin could test $50,000 ahead of a recovery in the latter half of this year.
According to SoSoValue data, the assets under management of the XRP Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) decreased from $1.6 billion on January 5 to about $1 billion in mid-February. This 40% drop reflects the overall risk-averse sentiment among investors following the market crash.
ETF fund flows are a bearish signal
This reversal occurred shortly after XRP made a strong start in early 2026. XRP surged 25% in just the first week of the year, driven by ETF inflows and the partial alleviation of regulatory uncertainty following Ripple's agreement with the SEC in August 2025.
Kendrick noted that both XRP and Ethereum are exposed to the development of stablecoins and the tokenization of real assets, suggesting that both assets could grow at a similar pace in the long run. However, he pointed out that the current market environment obscures these long-term themes.
The cryptocurrency bill pending in the U.S. Senate, the 'Clarity Act,' is being mentioned as a potential catalyst for XRP recovery. However, progress on this bill has stalled last month due to disagreements between banking executives and cryptocurrency industry leaders.
Ripple's Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty stated on February 10 that bipartisan support for legislation regarding the structure of the cryptocurrency market remains intact. However, whether this will actually lead to price defense depends on the legislative outcomes and whether broad market sentiment stabilizes.
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