Standard Chartered said on Tuesday that XRP could reach $5.50 before the end of 2025, and push up to $12.50 before Donald Trump leaves office in 2029, according to a report that launched the bank’s coverage of the token.

The forecast included multiple benchmarks: $8 by the end of 2026, $10.40 by the end of 2027, and $12.50 by late 2028, all published in a research note written by Geoffrey Kendrick, head of digital assets research at the bank.

At the time of the report, XRP was up more than 7%, trading at $1.93. The rise followed Trump’s November election win, which the bank said played a major role in lifting expectations for a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) policy change and growing speculation over XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Geoffrey said in the report that XRP’s gains were not just a reaction to politics, but based on long-term positioning in cross-border crypto transactions. He wrote that “XRP is uniquely positioned at the heart of one of the fastest-growing use cases for digital assets – facilitation of cross-border and cross-currency payments.”

Standard Chartered links XRP rise to SEC shake-up and stablecoin growth

The bank’s report tied XRP’s potential to changes in SEC leadership after Trump’s win, and said these changes could open the door for friendlier policies on Ripple, the company behind XRPL.

Geoffrey also compared XRPL, the blockchain powering XRP, to the use case of stablecoins like Tether, which are used to move funds across borders without banks. He explained that XRPL serves the same function—blockchain-based financial transfers that replace what used to be done through old-school financial institutions.

Geoffrey said stablecoin transactions are expected to grow tenfold over the next four years, pointing out that Ripple plans to expand XRPL’s use into tokenization, where physical or traditional assets are turned into digital tokens and moved on-chain.

Ripple buys Hidden Road to control prime brokerage and push RLUSD

Meanwhile, right around the time of Standard Chartered’s prediction, Ripple announced that it has acquired Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. The purchase gives Ripple full ownership of a global multi-asset prime broker, making it the first crypto firm to run one at this scale.

Hidden Road offers institutional clients services like clearing, financing, prime brokerage, and access to crypto, foreign exchange, swaps, derivatives, and fixed income products. Ripple now controls that gateway.

According to Ripple, Hidden Road currently clears $3 trillion every year and has over 300 institutional clients, including hedge funds, market makers, and asset managers. With Ripple’s backing, the company is set to scale fast, and Ripple intends to turn it into the largest non-bank prime broker worldwide.

Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, said this is the moment where traditional finance finally connects with crypto. “We are at an inflection point for the next phase of digital asset adoption – the US market is effectively open for the first time due to the regulatory overhang of the former SEC coming to an end, and the market is maturing to address the needs of traditional finance,” Brad said.

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