The XRP price slid 5% on Wednesday as a wider market pullback dragged most major tokens lower, knocking the altcoin back to roughly $1.43. Experts point to the same recurring forces behind the swing: persistent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and a shortage of fresh, bullish catalysts. Despite the near-term weakness, market observers remain upbeat about XRP’s longer-term prospects, centering their optimism on an anticipated policy development in Washington. Potential Surge In Adoption And ETF Inflows Industry analysts widely believe that passage of the CLARITY Act — the proposed crypto market-structure bill in the US Congress — would materially improve XRP’s institutional outlook by formally classifying the token as a digital commodity. That legal status would place XRP on a regulatory footing similar to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) and, according to proponents, remove a major barrier to large-scale adoption by banks, asset managers, and payment providers. Related Reading: Citigroup Lowers 12-Month Bitcoin Price Forecast To $112,000, ETH To $3,175—Here’s The Reason In a new analysis, Sam Daodu of 24/7 Wall St. argued that the CLARITY Act is the single most important catalyst that could propel the XRP price past key resistance levels. He noted that commodity designation would allow US banks to use XRP for cross-border settlement via Ripple’s payment rails without the looming uncertainty that a regulatory reclassification might later introduce. That legal clarity, Daodu said, would unlock institutional confidence and encourage sizeable inflows into XRP investment products such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs). XRP Price Targets Lifted Daodu also cited forecasts from Standard Chartered’s Geoffrey Kendrick, who previously set an $8 target for XRP in 2026, premised on the passage of the CLARITY Act. Kendrick’s model anticipates $4 billion to $8 billion in cumulative ETF inflows by year-end if the bill passes. Consensus among many analysts places the XRP price between $5 and $10 should the legislation clear Congress, with an $8 price implying a market capitalization near $490 billion — a level Daodu argues is plausible if banks adopt XRP for actual payment use rather than the token remaining a retail trading vehicle. Daodu went further in outlining further upside scenarios: if the CLARITY Act were approved and Ripple’s application for a master account at the Federal Reserve were also successful by late 2026, some models project XRP could trade in a $15–$30 range under full bank adoption. Related Reading: This Week Could Be The Most Volatile For Bitcoin In 2026, Top Expert Warns The CLARITY Act passed the House in July 2025 by a 294–134 vote and moved through the Senate Agriculture Committee on January 29. However, the Senate Banking Committee has yet to schedule a new markup since January, and negotiators have not published a reconciled draft that satisfies both crypto and banking stakeholders. However, on Wednesday, pro-crypto Senator Cynthia Lummis indicated renewed momentum when she said that the Banking Committee plans to mark up the bill in April, following the Easter recess. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
