Pundit Says XRP Price Could Reach $1,000 By End Of 2026 If This Happens

The possibility of a massive surge in the XRP price has been raised again following comments made by financial commentator Jake Claver during an interview on the Paul Barron podcast. 

During the discussion, Claver suggested that XRP could eventually move into three or four digits, suggesting that the cryptocurrency might reach as high as $1,000 under the right conditions. Notably, the ‘right conditions’ are based on institutional adoption of Ripple’s financial infrastructure and the continued expansion of the company’s acquisitions.

Claver’s comments came as part of discussions among crypto analysts about how blockchain infrastructure is increasingly being adopted by major financial institutions. In the Paul Barron YouTube podcast interview, he stated that XRP could eventually trade in three or four digits in 2026, with an emphasis on the potential role of the asset in global financial settlement.

XRP is currently trading below $1.40, which is far below the double-digit threshold, let alone three digits yet. However, according to Claver, the single biggest factor behind a price move to three or four digits would be a full-scale adoption of XRP by major banks and institutional players. 

He cited Monica Long, President of Ripple Labs, as pointing to institutional adoption as the defining growth story for XRP in 2026. Claver named specific institutions he believes are positioned to lead the charge, including BNY Mellon, Fidelity, Citi, Franklin Templeton, and JPMorgan.

In his view, XRP needs to reach a high and stable market cap before institutions will feel comfortable moving significant capital into it. “If you have a huge market cap for XRP, something much higher than people can comprehend, it will be very difficult to move that price with the inflows or outflows,” Claver said.

He added that spot Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs) will contribute massively to the adoption of XRP by financial institutions. Recent market dynamics have already seen steady inflows into US-based Spot XRP ETFs, although not currently at a scale that would lead to a surge to $1,000 by the end of the year.

Claver also pointed to Ripple’s recent strategic moves as evidence that the company is positioning itself for institutional growth. These strategic moves are related to Ripple’s acquisitions that are now placing the company outside of simple payment processing.

During the interview, he noted that Ripple is now involved in treasury management solutions and updates on RLUSD that could increase the use of its ecosystem.

“They’re doing treasury management at this point, so if they did want people to hold RLUSD and be able to generate a return on, that’d be great,” Claver said.

He added that Ripple’s acquisitions, like the purchase of Hidden Road, which has been integrated into Ripple Prime, along with the acquisition of GTreasury and launch of Ripple Treasury, have expanded Ripple’s institutional offerings.

According to Claver, these developments form part of the broader Ripple One product stack. “They’re in a very unique position to capitalize on this,” he said.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView