Standard Chartered, that old‑money colossus, has dragon‑fanged its 2026 XRP target to a humble $2.80, citing a tempest of volatility, a plague of ETF outflows, and the specter of market miracles.
Once again, Standard Chartered rope‑dragged its crystal ball, tightening the price yarn by a staggering 65 %, leaving the brilliant hope of an $8.00 lullaby in ashes. The bank’s cautious whispers echo through the crypto‑corridors, sounding a bizarre doom on a universe already torn asunder by jittery speculation.
Bank Lowers Crypto Forecasts After Market Rout
They say the recent galaxy of coins has been cursed with an unholy intrigue, and the bank tried to prune the branches of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other stars. The storm that handed out ETF bleeding, and the general weather of macro debt, did the banks’ work, posting them as weary shepherds in a barren pasture.
Related Reading: XRP Slides Below $1.60 After $50M Upbit Selloff
Geoffrey Kendrick, the master of the cryptic manor and head of digital assets research, sighed that the market’s flight has turned into a sighing mule. He warned that the descent may be a leisurely voyage until the dawn of any meaningful recovery.
In the frantic early days of February, the world of ICOs saw what could best be described as the most pugnacious selloff in almost four years. Bitcoin limped to $60 000 before brushing against $70 000, like a bruised horse rolling in the pasture. XRP toppled to $1.16, the lowest price in a season of 15 months, only to float back to about $1.5 as if hoping the wind would carry it south.
The newly revised $2.80 target for XRP is starkly lower than the previous $8.00 climb, making this cut a cheque written in the most reckless ink of the year.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana Targets Also Reduced
Bitcoin’s target for 2026 shrank from $150 000 to $100 000, while Ethereum fell from $7 000 to $4 000 in the bank’s ledger. Solana, too, revealed a retreat from $250 to a modest $135.
ETF outflows were sage like a tax farmer-extracting dough from the market, and leaving institutional appetite thin as parchment. The lack of institutional hunger, coupled with a cruelty of economic currents, spun a maddening spin on these coins.
High interest rates discouraged speculative shenanigans, and the shadows of global debt pressed upon the digital dais, making the very idea of surging markets the stuff of whispered nightmares.
Despite these bleak prognostications, a faint echo of optimist optimism remained. Analysts still spoke of the slow rise of tokenization, migrants from the analogue world to the blockchain mosaic-a tale that could absorb the digital vine into mainstream finance.
The guardians of regulation, particularly the Clarity Act in the Senate, may scrub the market’s moral palette by late 2026, perhaps offering some moral compass in the otherwise anarchy of digitized gold.
As near‑future risks loom like a film set with no good script, Kendrick cautions that Bitcoin may stall near $50 000 again, and Ethereum could waver around $1 400 before a fragile serenity may arrive.
This update underscores the volatility of digital ecosystems, a place where prices tumble like drunken philosophers in a tavern, while investors watch the ebbing tides of ETF flows, policy drips, and the occasional pop of price signals; the market, ever roving, remains a fickle friend.
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2026-02-17 08:46