Brad Garlinghouse argues that Bitcoin has yet to realise its full bullishness this cycle, and with it, bullish XRP price predictions may still be on track.

Speaking at Binance Blockchain Week 2025, he dismissed the current bearish mood around crypto as temporary and completely out of sync with the fundamentals supporting the market.

2026 has the potential to be “the most bullish year in crypto yet,” with institutions paving the way for a $180,000 Bitcoin.

BREAKING:

RIPPLE $XRP CEO BRAD GARLINGHOUSE PREDICTS BITCOIN WILL HIT $180,000 BY THE END OF 2026. pic.twitter.com/uIRgKm7zIr

— Crypto Rover (@cryptorover) December 3, 2025

The pro-crypto regulatory shift in the U.S. has unlocked one-fifth of global GDP, with institutional-level demand only just being tapped into with the introduction of ETFs.

And they have only just permeated the mainstream with traditional asset manager giants outside of digital-native firms playing “catch-up,” introducing their vast clientele.

Garlinghouse rejects the idea that ETF demand has peaked, noting the few crypto offerings represent just 1–2% of all ETF assets, a tiny fraction that leaves enormous upside.

XRP is a standout beneficiary with steps towards regulation, like the GENIUS stablecoin Act, paving the way for its infrastructure, like stablecoins, to become mainstream.

Ripple’s stablecoin approvals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai reinforce that point; stablecoins are no longer experimental, they’re becoming embedded in real financial systems.

XRP Price Prediction: How High Can XRP go in 2026?

December is shaping a strong launchpad into 2026 with a strong confluence of support laying the groundwork for a 4-month descending channel breakout.

The lower boundary of this consolidation is about to be retested, aligning with the level that has provided a firm bottom market throughout the bullish phase of the market cycle at $1.90.

A strong technical setup for a launchpad, and momentum indicators could support it.

While its most recent attempt has ended in rejection, the RSI is now testing the 50 neutral line after weeks in deep oversold territory. Strength is building towards a bullish shift.

While the MACD verges on a death cross below the signal line, it may prove short-lived as XRP nears the confluence zone.

The key breakout threshold lies at $2.70, a former strong support level that recently flipped to resistance. Reclaiming this zone could confirm a breakout targeting an 80% upside move to $3.70.

And with further U.S. interest rate easing expected into and growing institutional involvement, the setup could extend much higher, eyeing $5 in the approach of past all-time highs for a 150% run.

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The post XRP Price Prediction: Ripple CEO Says Bitcoin Will Double by 2026 – How High Can XRP Go? appeared first on Cryptonews.

Reports have disclosed that Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse told a Binance-hosted panel he expects Bitcoin to reach $180,000 by December 31, 2026.

Bank Moves Could Be The Spark

According to market coverage, Bitcoin tumbled about $5,000 in roughly three hours during early December, wiping more than $200 billion from the broader crypto market and triggering nearly $700 million in liquidations. That sudden drop has been linked to moves in traditional markets, not a single crypto event.

Some analysts point to a change in Japan’s bond market that is pressuring the long-running yen carry trade. Reports say the Bank of Japan’s policy path is now in focus, with a key decision due in mid-December that could move global risk appetite and the yen.

Whales Bought While Prices Fell

On-chain trackers show large investors added to holdings during the drop. According to on-chain data aggregators, accumulator addresses picked up about 375,000 BTC over recent weeks. That figure, if measured the way those firms define “whales,” suggests big players were buying into weakness.

Miners Also Cut Back Sales

Based on market commentary, miner selling has slowed sharply. One widely cited dataset shows miner outflows fell from roughly 23,000 BTC per month to about 3,672 BTC in the most recent window. That drop in miner supply was flagged as a possible tailwind for price if it persists.

ETF Money Flows And Model Targets

Reports have also tracked ETF movements, noting several billion dollars left Bitcoin ETFs in November, and that flows remain a key short-term force for price direction. Meanwhile, major banks have published valuation work that places fair-value scenarios well above current levels — for example, JPMorgan analysts have argued a model-based target near $170,000 under certain assumptions.

How Realistic Is A $180,000 Outcome?

Putting these pieces together, hitting $180,000 by the end of 2026 is possible in a bullish scenario where institutional demand resumes, whale buying continues, miner selling stays low, and central-bank moves help risk appetite.

But it would require sizeable, sustained inflows and a benign macro backdrop across many months — not just a one-off rally. Garlinghouse remains optimistic about his forecast.

Signals To Watch Next

Bank of Japan guidance in mid-December could influence Bitcoin’s next move. Daily ETF flows and open interest have shown significant shifts recently. On-chain data indicates that accumulators added around 375,000 BTC while miner selling dropped sharply. These figures, if confirmed by the original data sources, may play a major role in shaping near-term price action.

Garlinghouse’s $180,000 call is a high-profile, optimistic view that matches other bullish models on the market. Reports show real volatility and major flows are already shaping price. For now, the forecast is an opinion rooted in plausible scenarios — one to watch, not a certainty.

Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView

At Binance Blockchain Week on December 3, Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse argued that a rare alignment of regulatory change, institutional demand and real-world utility is setting up crypto for what he called powerful “macro tailwinds” heading into 2026.

“I personally will echo some of the things Richard said: there are so many macro factors that are continuing to provide tailwinds for this industry that I think as we go into 2026 I don’t remember being this optimistic in the last handful of years,” the Ripple CEO told CNBC’s Dan Murphy, speaking alongside Binance CEO Richard Teng and Solana Foundation President Lily Liu.

Ripple CEO Is Optimistic For 2026: Here’s Why

He framed the latest drawdown not as the start of a structural bear market but as a risk-off interlude against a fundamentally improved backdrop. “Crypto has gone through cycles and when you have risk-on people are excited […] now you have kind of a risk-off moment, there’s uncertainty,” he said. The difference this time, he argued, is that the United States—the largest single economy and roughly “22% of global GDP”—is finally moving away from what he described as years of open hostility toward the sector.

“This is a market that has been really openly hostile to crypto for four or five years or maybe longer, and now you have that that has changed significantly, pretty quickly,” he said. Institutions, in his view, are only beginning to adjust. He pointed to the visible presence of traditional asset managers at the event: “You saw Franklin Templeton on stage here, you saw BlackRock on stage just this week. I think Vanguard has now opened up […] Vanguard historically has said ‘we won’t touch crypto’ and now they’ve had a massive sea change.”

On crypto ETFs, the Ripple CEO rejected the idea that the trade was over-hyped. “Definitely no,” he said when asked whether the ETF “floor” narrative had been exaggerated. He stressed how new these vehicles still are in the United States and highlighted early demand for XRP products. “In the last two or three weeks over $700 million have flowed into XRP ETFs, which is just pent-up demand from institutional investors, from investors who want access because they don’t want to custody themselves,” he said.

He argued that the key metric is crypto’s still-small slice of the overall ETF universe. “The total ETF market—only one or two percent of the total ETF market is crypto. I will bet anybody here that a year from now that will be more than one or two percent,” he said. Short-term outflows from Bitcoin products, he suggested, should be viewed in context: “Over 2026 do we really think crypto ETFs are only going to be one or two percent of the total ETF market? No chance.”

Garlinghouse said Ripple’s own prime brokerage business is already seeing that shift in behavior. Institutions that had remained “on the sidelines” due to regulatory uncertainty or risk aversion are now “getting involved and they’re starting small, and they’re going to walk, then they’re going to crawl—or crawl then walk then run.” Asked directly whether recent volatility had deterred institutional capital, he replied: “Definitely not.”

Stablecoins Will Be A Key Pillar

Stablecoins were another pillar of his 2026 thesis. He agreed that in the latest risk-off phase, capital largely rotated into stablecoins rather than exiting on-chain rails, which he said reflects both utility and trust. “People are recognizing stablecoins can be stable and easier to manage,” he said.

Garlinghouse highlighted that Ripple’s own stablecoin, launched “just over a year ago,” has “just passed about a billion market cap,” is “approved and whitelisted in Abu Dhabi,” and is being used as “good collateral on various platforms from a lending point of view.” For him, stablecoins are an entry ramp to broader adoption, alongside other applications that will be built across Solana, Binance and Ripple ecosystems.

On US policy, he said the trajectory has clearly improved, especially for payment tokens. He cited the GENIUS Act as “regulatory clarity for stablecoins” and linked it to growing corporate interest in on-chain payments. After Ripple’s acquisition of GTreasury, which has visibility into “over 10 trillion dollars of payments,” he said “the number of those customers that are already approaching us interested in leveraging stablecoins […] because of that clarity, people are leaning in.”

The Ripple CEO noted that XRP has already received a form of clarity from US federal courts but said broader legislation is still needed. He referenced the “Clarity Act” for crypto, saying there is “still forward momentum” and predicting that “sometime in the first half of next year we’ll see passage of legislation, which will continue to unlock and create more tailwinds for the whole industry.”

He closed with an explicit price target for the next cycle, acknowledging he was “going out on a limb”: “I’ll say Bitcoin $180,000 December 23rd—or December 31st—2026.”

At press time, XRP traded at $2.15.

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