XRP could soar 550% before Trump's Departure, says StanChart

Global bank Standard Chartered predicts that Ripple’s XRP token may jump by 550% in the next few years—even before President Trump leaves office. In a note released on Tuesday, the bank forecasts that XRP could hit $12.50 by the end of 2028, climbing from around $1.90 today.

This optimistic outlook is based on XRP’s potential to follow the real price increases seen in Bitcoin, thanks to its growing role in cross-border payments and tokenization. XRP’s value recently jumped sixfold over the two months following Trump's 2024 election win, marking the strongest gain among major digital assets.

Geoff Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Assets Research at Standard Chartered, believes that a key reason for this surge is the expectation that the SEC will drop its long-running appeal against Ripple—a decision confirmed in March. This has removed a major uncertainty surrounding XRP.

Kendrick also points to the increasing use of the XRP Ledger in blockchain payments, similar to the rapid growth seen with stablecoins. He says that XRP’s strong performance after the election is sustainable not only because of changes at the SEC but also because XRP is well-positioned for the booming market of cross-border and cross-currency payments.

Another driving force behind this bullish outlook is Ripple’s recent push into tokenizing real-world assets like money-market funds and Treasury bills on the XRP Ledger. Based on the success of similar initiatives, Kendrick is confident that XRP’s technology will thrive in the tokenization space.

Additionally, the potential approval of spot XRP ETFs could further boost the token. With several ETF applications under review, Standard Chartered expects that regulators might approve these funds as early as the third quarter of 2025. Kendrick estimates that such ETFs could attract anywhere from $4 billion to $8 billion within their first year.

Overall, Kendrick projects a steady rise in XRP’s price: reaching $5.50 by the end of 2025, $8.00 in 2026, growing to $10.40 by late 2027, and peaking at $12.50 before the end of 2028, with a slight correction to around $12.25 in 2029. Despite some risks—such as a smaller developer community and lower fee revenue compared to other blockchains—these challenges are expected to be outweighed by XRP’s robust use cases and positive market drivers.