XRP’s price could continue consolidating into the new year, with a stronger upward trend dependent on more bullish catalysts, according to crypto analysts.
“We maintain a view that the latter half of 2026 will provide more constructive conditions for risk assets in general, but in the short term, we have a slightly bearish tilt on altcoins until BTC consolidates or forms a bottom,” Nansen senior research analyst Jake Kennis told Cointelegraph.
Kennis is holding off on specific price predictions for 2026, but pointed to several catalysts that could drive XRP’s (XRP) price higher, including potential spot ETF approvals, integration with global payment rails, and “increased efforts to make XRP a liquidity or bridge asset.”
XRP may not start off with a “strong new trend,” says exec
XRP is down 14.63% since Jan. 1, trading at $1.84 at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap.
XRP is down 17.03% over the past 30 days. Source: CoinMarketCapEchoing a similar sentiment, Jesus Perez, CEO of Posidonia21 Capital Partners, told Cointelegraph that XRP may record sideways price action as we head into the new year. “We see XRP holding around current levels in a constructive market scenario, rather than initiating a strong new trend,” Perez said.
“XRP’s upside will likely depend more on narrative persistence and market sentiment than on fundamental transformation,” Perez said.
XRP ETFs have been performing strong recently
“While discussions around staking have emerged, the lack of a clear yield mechanism continues to represent a structural limitation compared to competing assets,” he added.
Source: NielsEarlier this month, US-based spot XRP ETFs surpassed $1 billion in assets, which CEO of crypto price index provider CF Benchmarks, Sui Chung, said is “because of the familiarity.”
Related: If 2026 brings an alteason, will ETH, BNB, XRP, SOL and DOGE be the top performers?
“It has a long track record,” Chung said.
Crypto analysts are divided on how the wider crypto market will perform in 2026.
Crypto analyst Benjamin Cowen recently said that Bitcoin’s current conditions make it challenging for altcoins to reach new highs.
Magazine: Big questions: Would Bitcoin survive a 10-year power outage?
Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/xrp-price-sideways-bullish-catalyst-crypto-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound
