XRP could be on track for one of its biggest price moves ever — but investors may need to wait until late 2027 or even 2028 to see it play out. That’s the view from market analyst Dr Cat, who recently flagged $1.034 as a compelling long-term buy zone for the token. According to the analyst, that price level lines up with a thick Ichimoku Cloud support zone on the charts, which he sees as offering a strong risk-to-reward setup for patient buyers. The price he’s projecting – the $30 target – would represent a gain of roughly 2,600% from XRP’s recent low of $1.09. That kind of move would rank among the largest in the token’s history.

The forecast, however, comes with conditions attached. Dr Cat’s model assumes XRP would need to trade at around 12,000 satoshis against Bitcoin, while Bitcoin itself would have to climb to approximately $250,000. Both would need to happen for the $30 scenario to materialize. The analyst also warned that the path there won’t be smooth. If Bitcoin falls into a deeper correction, XRP could drop another 50% from current levels — a risk he acknowledged even while holding his bullish long-term view. His higher-timeframe analysis suggests the next major expansion phase for XRP may not begin before September 2027, meaning anyone who buys in now could be sitting through a long consolidation window before any serious upside kicks in.

The backdrop for all this is a token that has taken a hard hit in recent months. Based on data from Coingecko, XRP is down 18% over the past week, 20% over the past month, and 38% year-to-date. From its all-time high of $3.65, the token has shed more than 60% of its value. The wider market hasn’t helped. XRP dropped to $1.09 during a sharp correction that also dragged Bitcoin down to around $59,000 after it had been trading above $70,000 just days earlier. Some in the XRP community see the selloff differently. Analyst Digital Outlook has pointed to similarities between current market conditions and the period following the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple in December 2020. Reports indicate XRP fell to around $0.17 in the aftermath of that filing, only to surge past $1.96 by April 2021 as sentiment shifted — a gain of more than 1,000%. Whether history repeats is far from guaranteed. But for Dr. Cat, the $1.034 zone remains his line in the sand — a level he believes offers long-term buyers a solid base, even if the wait turns out to be a long one.