1,000 XRP or 1 Ethereum: Which Is Worth More by 2028?
Standard Chartered has published 2028 price targets for both XRP and Ethereum, but the gap between holding 1,000 XRP versus a single ETH is wider than most investors assume, and closing it requires one very specific set of conditions to…
1,000 XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) costs $1,420 today, while 1 Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) costs $2,490, so a single ETH is already worth about 75% more than a 1,000-XRP position. Both coins have named 2028 targets from Standard Chartered, and the bank has revised its shorter-term 2026 forecasts for both this year while leaving the 2028 numbers in place
Here is what 1,000 XRP and 1 Ethereum would be worth under a range of 2028 outcomes, and what it would actually take for the XRP position to catch up.
How Much Would 1,000 XRP and 1 Ethereum Be Worth in 2028?
Standard Chartered’s XRP prediction reaches $12.60 by the end of 2028, a target the bank left in place even after cutting its 2026 XRP forecast from $8 to $2.80 earlier this year. A bear case for XRP at $1, matching the low it touched in mid-August 2026, would value 1,000 XRP at $1,000. A base case at $2.80, the bank’s current 2026 target held flat into 2028, would value the position at $2,800. A bull case at $12.60, the bank’s own 2028 target, would value the position at $12,600.
Meanwhile, for Ethereum, Standard Chartered set a 2028 target of $25,000 in mid-2025, then cut its 2026 target from $7,500 to $4,000 this year while keeping a $40,000 target for 2030, without publicly reissuing a fresh 2028 number since. A bear case for Ethereum at $1,400, a level the bank itself has floated as a possible capitulation low, would value 1 ETH at $1,400. A base case at $4,000, the bank’s current, most recently reaffirmed 2026 target held into 2028, would value 1 ETH at $4,000. A bull case at $25,000, the bank’s last explicit 2028 call, would value 1 ETH at $25,000, though that figure has not been reaffirmed since the broader cut.
What Price Would XRP Need to Reach for 1,000 XRP to Be Worth More Than 1 Ethereum?
The math for 1,000 XRP to catch up with 1 Ethereum is simple: XRP’s price needs to reach whatever Ethereum’s price is, divided by 1,000. What differs is how large that gap is under each Ethereum scenario.
If Ethereum Falls to Its Bear Case of $1,400
At Ethereum’s bear case of $1,400, 1,000 XRP would only need XRP to trade at $1.40 to match it. XRP already trades above that level, at $1.42, so 1,000 XRP is already worth slightly more than 1 Ethereum under this scenario. This is the only one of the three Ethereum scenarios where XRP does not need to move at all to come out ahead.
If Ethereum Holds Its Base Case of $4,000
At Ethereum’s base case of $4,000, 1,000 XRP would need XRP to reach $4, a gain of about 182% from today. That price is above XRP’s own $3.84 all-time high from January 2018, so catching up under this scenario would mean XRP setting a new record while Ethereum simply holds its already-reaffirmed 2026 target.
If Ethereum Reaches Its Stale Bull Case of $25,000
At Ethereum’s bull case of $25,000, 1,000 XRP would need XRP to reach $25, a gain of more than 1,660% from today. That price is more than six times XRP’s all-time high, a target neither Standard Chartered nor Bitwise has published for XRP at any point through 2030. Closing this gap would require XRP to outrun even its own bank-published bull case by a wide margin.
Which Is More Likely to Be Worth More by 2028?
We think 1 Ethereum is more likely to be worth more than 1,000 XRP by 2028. Ethereum’s bear, base and bull outlooks are each worth more than XRP’s matching outlooks. These matching outlooks are $1,400 against $1,000 on the low end, $4,000 against $2,800 in the middle, and $25,000 against $12,600 on the high end.
For 1,000 XRP to close that gap, XRP would need to substantially outperform its own bank-published forecasts while Ethereum underperforms toward its bear case at the same time, the only scenario in which XRP came out ahead in the section above.
Our view would change if the CLARITY Act passes and XRP ETF inflows accelerate well beyond Standard Chartered’s own $4-$8 billion threshold, since that is the specific condition the bank has tied to XRP moving up its ladder. It would also change if Ethereum’s institutional buying, which Standard Chartered says has run at nearly double Bitcoin’s pace this year, slows sharply, or if the bank cuts its Ethereum forecast again the way it already has once in 2026. Either development would narrow a gap that currently favors Ethereum at every comparable tier.
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Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst who's spent nearly a decade making blockchain understandable—no easy task when most whitepapers read like fever dreams. He writes for 24/7 Wall St., covering Bitcoin, altcoins, and crypto market analysis for investors. Before crypto, he was a tech writer (back when explaining "the cloud" was peak innovation). Since 2018, he's written for CoinTelegraph, Yahoo Finance, The Block, Cryptonews, Zypto, Rain, and more—basically anywhere people want crypto news without the headache. Sam runs MacLabs Marketing, a content agency for crypto brands tired of sounding like AI wrote their website. He also publishes free crypto education on his site for Web3 enthusiasts who think "gas fees" is a typo. When he's not writing or staring at charts, Sam's either: - Watching anime (currently convinced One Piece has better tokenomics than most altcoins) - At the gym sculpting himself into a Greek god - Listening to the music your mum warned you only bad boys listen to Connect: LinkedIn | Email | MacLabs Marketing
