Following two powerful rallies – 543% in late 2024, and 60% in the summer of 2025 – XRP has mostly been on a decline in recent months, raising the question of whether the cryptocurrency is a buy, hold, or sell in 2026.

Indeed, the popular token has been trading with significant volatility since New Year’s Day as it is, at press time on January 22, changing hands at $1.95 – up 4.09% in the year-to-date (YTD) chart but 16.81% below the January 6 high of $2.35.

In the short-term, XRP looks rather close to a bullish breakout, considering its two critical resistance zones are but cents away at $1.97 and $2. 

Simultaneously, a bearish turn appears unlikely as the token would have to plunge below the $1.78 support to truly crash – a move that would require an 8.72% price drop to even become a genuine possibility.

The bull case in the extremely short and arguably the very long term was boosted with a January 21 joint press release from Evernorth and t54. 

According to the text, Evernorth is seeking to raise $1 billion in order to create the world’s largest XRP treasury while also seeking to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) on the XRP Ledger.

Why XRP remains a ‘Strong Buy’ in the long-term

Additionally, having previously recorded highs near $3.60 in 2025, and examining the historic performance of other major cryptocurrencies, XRP looks both cheap and promising to buy in January of 2026 as a long-term rally of at least 84% appears all but inevitable.

The drive toward a legal framework for digital assets in the U.S. appears to, despite recent setbacks, back the XRP bull case. The token has, possibly, more than any other prominent cryptocurrency, been held back by regulatory woes.

Specifically, the long legal battle between Ripple Labs – the company behind the token – and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ensured XRP failed to take part in the overall late 2023 and early 2024 market rally. 

Likewise, the settlement reached in 2025 enabled the year’s 60% upsurge, generally painting the token as a ‘Buy’ in the long run.

For investors seeking more immediate profits, the situation could be substantially different. 

Why XRP is a ‘Hold’ in 2026

To begin with, while the U.S. is moving in the direction of tailor-made cryptocurrency regulation, the vote on the legal framework has been postponed, while the draft of bills such as the CLARITY Act triggered something of an online spat between industry heavyweights.

Indeed, while Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse remained supportive of the document through its ‘imperfections’, Coinbase’s (NASDAQ: COIN) Brian Armstrong withdrew his endorsement. Cardano’s (ADA) Charles Hoskinson was even more vocal as he explained his dissatisfaction with the act and figures like Garlinghouse in a recent broadcast on X.

Considering XRP’s historical dependence on regulatory developments and the fact that much of the early 2026 optimism was driven by hopes for the framework, the token could struggle to impress in the short-to-mid term.

In fact, the overall picture for the year appears mixed. While the bulls are yet to capitulate, an increasing number of experts and traders are anticipating that the wider cryptocurrency market will be on a retreat. 

Furthermore, it has been proposed that Bitcoin (BTC) will reach the cycle low in October 2026, due to the historical patterns in the time BTC takes to move from lows to highs and back. The world’s premier cryptocurrency still has an outsized impact on other digital assets, and XRP is, arguably, no exception.

Ultimately, the various factors impacting the cryptocurrency market paint XRP as a relatively decisive ‘Hold.’ Indeed, the token is all but guaranteed to rise in the long term on the one hand, but, on the other, it is not particularly cheap given its historic prices.

Is XRP a ‘Buy’ in January for risk-tolerant investors?

For the most risk-tolerant traders, however, XRP might still be a ‘Buy’ at press time on January 22. The cryptocurrency market bloodbath, which started on Sunday, January 18, sent the token’s price crashing. 

Similarly, spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw nearly $53 million in outflows on January 20, reflecting the widespread risk-off sentiment.

Still, given that the bearish turn was driven by geopolitical tensions and that President Donald Trump’s latest remarks at the World Economic Forum (WEF) were generally interpreted as deescalatory, a price recovery appears like the most likely next move.

In fact, such a direction appears to have already been chosen by investors, given XRP’s limited rally in the 24-hour chart and the $7 million worth of inflows into the spot ETFs recorded on January 21.

Featured image via Shutterstock