Journalist
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It has been reported that Ripple (XRP) has got 2026 off to a strong start by securing two regulatory licenses and also partnering with Aviva Investors.
This aimed to bring the XRP Ledger closer to mainstream adoption of DeFi by allowing XRPL to host traditional Aviva funds in tokenized form.
At the same time, the fundamentals of the XRPL network have remained strong. AMBCrypto found that stablecoin market cap and RWA values were at all-time highs, with a high influx of capital into the ecosystem.
So why are XRP price expectations still bearish?
Source: Ali Martinez on X
In an article on Using a long-term ascending channel, the analyst demonstrated that the channel low at $0.80 was the next price target.
Source: Glassnode
Data from Glassnode revealed that the options market was down despite XRP’s European regulatory licenses and the Aviva partnership. The put/call ratio was 0.17 in September, showing that bullish bets, or calls, far outweighed puts.
This situation has changed dramatically over the past two months. At the time of writing, the put/call ratio was 0.76. This represents an increase of almost 4.5 times, although this value remains relatively low compared to traditional market measures.
For an altcoin, this was relatively high. As the chart shows, the last time the metric reached these levels was during the local market bottom in April 2025. It shows how the metric can also be used as a contrarian signal to catch market lows.
Source: Coinalyse
This proves that traders were expecting a larger price drop. Data from Coinalyze supported this idea. The funding rate has been negative for most of the last two weeks.
At the same time, Open Interest is constantly falling. Together, they captured bearish sentiment in the futures market.
ETF spot flows were positive in February, but the macroeconomic picture remained bearish for the crypto market. XRP holders may have to endure more pain in the months to come. A price target of $0.80 was not too extreme.
Source: CoinGlass
This does not mean that traders should engage in short positions. There were large groups of short liquidation overheads that could push XRP higher.
Notably, the $1.80 to $2.0 area and the $2.44 to $2.62 area were magnetic zones that could be retested before another bearish impulse move.
Final Summary
- The long-term XRP price prediction of a decline to $0.80 was a distinct and realistic possibility, although not immediate.
- This was due to bearish market sentiment, evidenced by price action and traders’ positioning in the derivatives market.
