U.S. Spot Ripple [XRP] ETF products have attracted significant institutional inflows and may eventually boost the crypto assets if macro and broader sentiment improve.
The ETF products debuted in mid-November and became an instant hit. They recorded no single day of outflow in 2025.
In fact, the cumulative total netflow crossed $1.16 billion with net assets of $1.27 billion. Still, XRP struggled below $2 for most of December’s trading days.
Standard Chartered: XRP could hit $8
Even so, the growing ETF demand could be a major catalyst for XRP repricing in 2026, according to Standard Chartered Bank.
In a note to clients in April, Standard Chartered made one of the most bullish calls on the altcoin, with a price target of $8, citing regulatory clarity and utility in payments.
At that time, Geoff Kendricks, the bank’s head of digital assets research, said,
“Improving U.S. regulatory clarity has made it easier for institutions to take exposure and has given Ripple and the XRP ecosystem room to build without constant litigation risk.”
The $8 target implied a 300% upside potential from the current levels of $1.87.
At press time, XRP’s $1.87 level translated to $113 billion in market cap. If the asset explodes to $8, that would imply a $485 billion market cap or over $360 billion in new capital injection.
With current ETF inflows at $1.1 billion, the capital needed to drive XRP to the Standard Chartered price target appeared far-fetched.
But using market cap alone doesn’t give a clear picture of the amount needed to fuel the XRP rally. So we explored the realized cap, the on-chain metric that gauges capital entering XRP markets.
During the late 2024 rally, XRP surged from $0.5 to $3 (6x move) after absorbing $25 billion (realized cap jumped from $30B to $55 billion).
In short, for every 1x price move, XRP required $4.2 billion in realized cap or capital inflow.
So ideally, the $8 price target (4.4x price move) would need about $18.6 billion in new capital or a 19x surge in current ETF inflows.
Whale sell-off derails XRP recovery
That said, XRP whales became net sellers in the past two months. The whale sell-off may have capped XRP recovery prospects amid broader weak market sentiment.
Unless the whale dump eases, XRP may struggle below $2 in the near term.
Final Thoughts
- XRP needed nearly $19 billion in new capital to drive it to the Standard Chartered price target of $8.
- Whales’ renewed sell-off that may further delay a strong recovery for the altcoin in the short term.
