As the cryptocurrency market faces uncertainty and is in a consolidation phase, market expert Sam Daodu has published a report examining the potential of XRP, Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL) to become leaders if a recent altcoin season begins in 2026.
XRP, ETH and SOL price predictions
Daodu started his analysis indicating that Bitcoin (BTC) dominance is currently hovering around 59%, while the Altcoin Season Index reading is at 55. These indicators suggest that 2026 may herald a significant rotation towards altcoins, reflecting the significant changes experienced during the 2016-2017 and 2020-2021 cycles.
The expert presents several bullish scenarios for each of them. For XRP, he predicts a potential upside beyond the $6-8 range if ETF inflows continue to average above $400 million on a monthly basis and RippleNet continues to expand its influence in global banking.
On the other hand, ETH could rise towards $12,000-$18,000 if Layer 2 (L2) adoption enables wider usage and ETF inflow bounce.
Daodu highlights that energetic addresses are reaching their highest values in the cycle, which indicates organic demand that could translate into higher prices when institutional sentiment changes positively.
In the case of SOL, the outlook is similarly sanguine. Solana could boost to $500-$800 if the transaction closes in 150 milliseconds and low fees attract a recent wave of applications. Additionally, an boost in ETF filings could lead to significant capital inflows.
Potential future threats
In more stable scenarios, Daodu suggests that XRP could consolidate in the $2.50-$3.50 range if institutional adoption continues steadily without dramatic catalysts.
He also speculates that Ethereum could trade in the $5,000 to $9,000 range, benefiting from steady demand driven by yield staking and decentralized finance growth (DeFi).
Meanwhile, Solana could trade in the $200-$350 range, assuming developer growth and retail sales continue at their current pace without any major breakthroughs.
However, Daodu warns that XRP could fall below $1.50 if demand for ETFs declines or if regulatory uncertainties arise. Similarly, ETH may fall below $2,500 if scalability issues arise or if regulatory challenges become more pronounced. SOL could drop below $100 if outages persist or if it faces increased competition from other Tier 1 platforms.
What AI models predict
AI predictions provide additional insight into the expected performance of these altcoins. For XRP, forecasts vary significantly, with ChatGPT estimating a range of $0.80-$3.00, while Grok offers a more bullish outlook with a target of $1.50-$6.00.
Ethereum Artificial intelligence predictions show a range of $3,000-$9,000 with ChatGPT, while Gemini predicts it will be a maximum of $7,000-$18,000 thanks to increased tokenization.
Finally, Solana’s forecasts range from $120-$350 for ChatGPT to a more sanguine $300-$800 for Gemini, depending on consumer app development.
At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $1.93, down 2% in the last 24 hours. ETH was trading at around $2,952 while SOL was trading at $128, with both seeing comparable declines over the same period.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
