After a short-lived rally to start the year, XRP (XRP +3.71%) is once again trading below the $2 price level. That can be concerning to crypto investors, who may be starting to wonder if XRP can ever recover from its disastrous mid-year swoon last year.
But I'm going to take a contrarian view on XRP. There are plenty of signs that the world's fifth-largest cryptocurrency is ready to break out in 2026, and I'm predicting that XRP will double in price this year to hit the $4 mark.
Strong ETF demand
Most encouragingly, investor demand for the new spot XRP ETFs remains strong. By the end of 2025, these exchange-traded funds had already pulled in over $1 billion from investors. Currently, there are five spot XRP ETFs with more than $225 million in assets under management, led by the Canary XRP ETF (XRPC 0.95%), which has $346 million in assets.
Image source: Getty Images.
While net inflows continue to be impressive, there admittedly might not be enough demand to send XRP doubling in price. But this steady buying from institutional investors should help to keep a $2 floor in place for the price of XRP going forward. Over the next 12 months, steady buying should be enough to get XRP to the $3 price point.
A major catalyst for XRP?
To reach the $4 price point, XRP will need a major new catalyst. The good news is that it already has one. In 2025, Ripple, the company behind the XRP token, went on an epic $2.5 billion spending spree of blockchain- and crypto-related companies. The jewel in the crown was the $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road, a global prime brokerage.
CRYPTO: XRP
Key Data Points
Now, 2026 could be the year that Ripple puts all the pieces of the puzzle together. Ripple executives have already said that the company will take a breather this year, just to work on the current acquisitions.
If all goes according to plan, Ripple will be able to build the financial infrastructure to enable payments to flow seamlessly around the globe. XRP, of course, will be at the center of this global financial infrastructure, due to its role in cross-border payments.
Is a $4 price within reach?
Of course, XRP has fooled us before. In early 2025, XRP soared to a multi-year high of $3.40. After a brief (tariff-induced) retreat, XRP then made another run at the $4 price level during the summer, only to stall at $3.65 in mid-July.
So is the third time the charm? Will XRP rally again to break above $4 by the end of the year? Right now, online prediction markets only give XRP a 28% chance of doing so.
But if there's any cryptocurrency capable of going nuclear in a short period of time, it's XRP. At just $2, it looks like an undervalued bargain to me.
