 
 
Despite the latest crypto market drawdown, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s faith remains unshaken. Garlinghouse has predicted that the crypto market will hit new historic highs in 2026, buoyed by favorable regulation and institutional adoption.
Speaking with CNBC, the Ripple boss asserted that he’s “very bullish,” suggesting that crypto is headed to new all-time highs this year, although he did not provide details on particular assets or an exact target.
Bitcoin’s early-January breakout attempt has faltered, with the world’s oldest and largest crypto slipping below the $90,000 mark once again. However, Garlinghouse dismissed the ongoing bearishness, predicting a new ATH.
“I’ll go on record as saying I think we’ll see an all-time high,” Garlinghouse postulated.
He strongly believes that institutional interest in crypto is not fully priced in. Additionally, he is convinced that the much-anticipated Clarity Act will “get done.”
 
The bill has endured a wild week, as reflected by prominent U.S. crypto exchange, Coinbase, abruptly withdrawing support for the major crypto market structure bill. Coinbase’s move sent the whole industry into a frenzy and triggered the “crypto versus banks” debate over whether banks are pushing to kill the legislation to keep their competition at bay. Following the exchange’s withdrawal, the U.S. Senate postponed the hearing on the bill just hours before it was scheduled to commence.
Despite that, US President Donald Trump said at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Wednesday that he hopes to sign the market structure bill into law “very soon.”
XRP Poised For $8 In 2026?
As for XRP, the Ripple-linked cross-border payments token, Garlinghouse did not make any comments during the CNBC interview — though he anticipates “continued, very positive momentum.”
“We are a very vested party in what goes on in the XRP ecosystem,” the Ripple CEO opined.
XRP soared past a seven-year-old milestone to set a fresh peak of $3.65 in July 2025. Much to the chagrin of the XRPArmy, the crypto has retraced by 47.7% since that time, currently trading hands around $1.91.
Even still, British multinational bank Standard Chartered has previously predicted that XRP could push above the coveted $8 mark in 2026.