Standard Chartered has initiated coverage of XRP with a sharply bullish outlook, predicting the digital asset could climb to $12.50 before the end of President Donald Trump’s current term.
The bank said XRP’s expanding use cases, favorable legal trajectory, and resilience amid macroeconomic volatility position it as one of the few digital assets likely to outperform during the next market cycle, according to Standard Chartered head of digital assets research Geoffrey Kendrick.
Kendrick identified XRP as a top-tier investment alongside Bitcoin (BTC) and Avalanche (AVAX), citing a combination of structural tailwinds and strategic relevance in global payments.
Legal clarity and utility expansion
The bank’s outlook rests in large part on expectations that the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs will resolve in Ripple’s favor, removing a major overhang that has long limited XRP’s institutional adoption.
The lender’s report also tied XRP’s potential upside to US political developments, projecting that a second Trump term would likely bring greater regulatory clarity and a friendlier policy environment for digital assets.
Standard Chartered emphasized that XRP’s value proposition has evolved. Originally designed as a cross-border payments token, XRP now sits at the core of a broader network, the XRP Ledger, which the bank described as a blockchain with increasing potential for tokenization and enterprise-grade use cases.
Kendrick believes that XRP’s price could “keep pace with Bitcoin in real terms” and outlined a base-case scenario in which XRP rises from its current level near $1.90 to $12.50, assuming Bitcoin reaches $500,000 over the same time frame.
The bank expects the catalyst for this growth to emerge from a combination of improved legal positioning, network upgrades, and growing transactional demand.
XRP could surpass ETH market cap
In one of its most striking forecasts, the report projected that XRP could overtake Ethereum (ETH) in market capitalization by the end of 2025.
While Ethereum is expected to reach $8,000 in that timeframe, the bank labeled it a “loser” relative to other top assets, pointing to scalability challenges and growing competition from more specialized chains.
Kendrick contrasted Ethereum’s broader challenges with what it views as XRP’s “sustainable” growth prospects. He noted that recent leadership changes within the XRP ecosystem, alongside expanding on-chain activity, reinforce confidence in XRP’s long-term positioning.
If XRP follows the trajectory outlined in the report, it will become the second-largest non-stablecoin digital asset globally, trailing only Bitcoin.
Standard Chartered maintained its existing Bitcoin forecast of $200,000 by the end of 2025 and reiterated its confidence that the next leg higher for digital assets will be fueled by “winners” that have strong use cases and regulatory visibility.
Kendrick framed current market volatility, including tariff-driven uncertainty, as a strategic opportunity for long-term allocation. With XRP now officially on the bank’s radar, the report signals a broader shift in how institutions are reassessing digital assets once seen as legally or structurally constrained.
The inclusion of XRP in Standard Chartered’s top picks reflects a growing consensus that a new phase of adoption is underway, one that may reward assets with real-world applications and legal clarity over brand recognition alone.
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