Ripple announced a $500 million strategic investment at a $40 billion valuation from a group of institutional investors led by funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group and affiliates of Citadel Securities, alongside participation from Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace. The investment follows what the company describes as its strongest year on record, as well as a recent $1 billion tender offer at the same valuation. Ripple has continued to attract institutional interest as it expands its global product suite and increases its presence across payments, custody, stablecoins, prime brokerage, and corporate treasury solutions.
Over the past several years, the company has focused on providing liquidity options for shareholders and employees, repurchasing more than 25% of its outstanding shares. The most recent tender offer drew significant demand from institutional investors seeking to join Ripple’s cap table. Accepting $500 million in new common equity was positioned as a strategic move to deepen relationships with financial partners whose expertise supports Ripple’s long-term roadmap.
Ripple has completed six acquisitions in just over two years, including two valued at more than $1 billion. These acquisitions have expanded the company’s reach into custody services, stablecoin infrastructure, prime brokerage, and treasury management. Earlier this year, Ripple acquired Rail to enhance Ripple Payments, enabling both XRP and Ripple’s stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), to be used in cross-border payment flows. The company now holds 75 regulatory licenses, enabling it to operate money movement services globally while streamlining liquidity and settlement processes for its customers. Ripple Payments has processed over $95 billion in volume to date.
Following the GENIUS Act regulatory framework, institutional adoption of stablecoins has accelerated. Ripple’s acquisition of GTreasury brought access to corporate customers managing trillions of dollars in financial flows and seeking to use stablecoins for treasury and collateral use cases. Meanwhile, RLUSD recently surpassed $1 billion in circulating supply less than a year after launch.
Ripple also finalized its acquisition of Hidden Road, now operating as Ripple Prime. The business has seen significant growth since the transaction, with collateral balances doubling, average daily transactions exceeding 60 million, and overall business scale tripling. Ripple Prime is now expanding into collateralized lending using XRP and supporting a growing institutional trading ecosystem based on XRP-related products.
KEY QUOTES:
“This investment reflects both Ripple’s incredible momentum, and further validation of the market opportunity we’re aggressively pursuing by some of the most trusted financial institutions in the world. We started in 2012 with one use case – payments – and have expanded that success into custody, stablecoins, prime brokerage and corporate treasury, leveraging digital assets like XRP. Today, Ripple stands as the partner for institutions looking to access crypto and blockchain.”
Brad Garlinghouse, CEO, Ripple
