The XRP price, much like a moth caught in the ballet of market forces, fluttered down by 3% on Wednesday, a trifling setback for Ripple President Monica Long’s grand opera of institutional predictions for 2026.
In her eloquent whispers (likely through a gold-plated megaphone), Long prophesies 2026 as the year when crypto, that most erratic of dance partners, executes its final pirouette into the rigid waltz of mature finance.
Ripple President Monica Long’s Predictions for 2026
Armed with a post and report that might as well be a manifesto written in basilisks, Long declares the industry’s transition from the whimsical realm of experimentation to the starched collars of “production era.”
She opines that banks and corporates, those traditionalists swatting javelins at fintech, will finally let stablecoins-and their glimmering utility-kiss their cheek. Or, more mundanely, embed digital dollars into their systems.
“After one of crypto’s most exciting years (a years-long techno-thriller starring underdogs), the industry is entering its production era,” Long mused, her words dripping with the gravitas of someone who’s probably never sipped lukewarm coffee.
According to Long, 2026 will deliver:
Stablecoins – Crowned as Global Settlement’s Royal We
Yet again, stablecoins take the spotlight, ascending from their humble role as payment palanquins to the throne of settlement infrastructure. Ms. Long, a self-proclaimed herald, dubs them “the foundation,” as Coinbase’s CEO presumably nods from backstage with a chalkboard of predictions.
She notes that Visa and Stripe, those corporate titans, are embedding stablecoins into payment flows like Picasso slapping his name on a soup can. All good, as long as the stablecoins don’t start fluttering off like startled parakeets.
“Stablecoins will be the foundation for global settlement, not an alternative rail,” she declared, while the markets yawned. One wonders if her stablecoin of choice was given a tranquillizer injection.
While retail users still fumble with crypto like toddlers with a Rubik’s Cube, the true alchemy, she insists, lies in B2B payments. Corporates, with their balance sheets full of cash that’s supposed to be working, will unlock liquidity. Or, as Long puts it, “freeing up trillions of dollars.”
Long cites 2024’s B2B stablecoin payments hitting a $76 billion annualized run rate &emdash up from a comically small $100 million monthly. It’s the financial equivalent of discovering that a pocket lintball weighs more than your will to live.
Crypto Exposure Goes Hogwarts (Mainstream)
Long’s second prediction? By 2026, crypto will be the wizarding world of finance-serious, accepted. Picture 50% of Fortune 500 companies dabbling in tokenized T-bills like it’s the stock market’s tea party.
“Crypto is no longer speculative-it’s becoming modern finance’s operating layer,” she wrote, with all the subtlety of a rhino bearing roses. Perhaps her crisis of M.A. papers taught her this rhetoric.
“Crypto is no longer speculative – it’s becoming the operating layer of modern finance,” she opined, predicting tokenized assets and programmable instruments dancing across balance sheets. Naturally, everyone’s riding this Gatsby train to Tomorrowland.
Her forecasts include crypto ETFs expanding like unchecked fluff clouds, though they still hover at a paltry 1-2% of the US ETF market. A growth spurt to match the S&P 500 would require a caffeine IV drip.
Custody’s Crowd-Pleasant Voyage
Long envisions 5-10% of global settlement migrating on-chain, propelled by tokenization and stablecoin liquidity. Meanwhile, crypto custody enters its “consolidation phase,” a euphemism for the industry yoga retreat to iron out its existential cramps.
In 2025 alone, crypto M&A reached a glamorless $8.6 billion in deals. Long predicts custody will be the next big pachyderm on the Avenue of Contentious Battles, with commoditization as its frenemy.
4/ Crypto M&A reflects market maturity, with $8.6B in deal volume in 2025 driven largely by institutions and custody emerging as the next major consolidation driver. As custody commoditizes, spurring vertical integration and multi-custodian strategies, ~50% of the world’s top 50
– Monica Long (@MonicaLongSF) January 20, 2026
Half the G7’s top 50 banks, she estimates, will formalize custody alliances. One hopes their due diligence forms are written in a legible script, not hieroglyphs.
Blockchain & AI’s Awkward Keystroke Baby
Long’s final crescendo: the coupling of blockchain and AI, a union that shall birth.zero-knowledge proof-driven treasuries and collateral optimization. It’s the financial equivalent of a DJ mixing Medieval tax codes with MIDI files.
Yet, the market reacts with the enthusiasm of a librarian to Shakespeare’s insults. XRP, that plucky feather in crypto’s hat, slipped 3% to $1.90, a tiny slip for a narrative boldly proclaimed.
This decline, crude but blunt, mirrors the ancient drama of markets and narratives-two lovers who misunderstand each other’s dialects. Even as Ripple’s 2026 vision blooms, XRP pirouettes into the abyss, a ballet of contradictions.
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2026-01-21 09:01