A quiet rumble has turned into a roar in the crypto world. Ripple, the blockchain payments company, just secured a hefty $500 million in a strategic investment round. This cash injection values the firm at a staggering $40 billion. It’s a number that makes you sit up and take notice.
- Ripple has secured a significant $500 million investment, valuing the company at $40 billion, with participation from major traditional finance firms. This funding aims to accelerate its expansion into institutional markets.
- The company is actively building out a comprehensive suite of institutional services through strategic acquisitions and its own share repurchases. This includes prime brokerage, treasury management, and custody solutions.
- Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD, has surpassed a $1 billion market cap, and its acquisition of GTreasury provides direct access to a vast corporate client base, signaling a strong push into onchain liquidity and settlement for traditional businesses.
Leading the charge were big names in traditional finance: Fortress Investment Group and Citadel Securities. They weren’t alone. Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace also put their money down. This funding round follows a $1 billion tender offer, made at the very same valuation. Ripple calls this period its strongest year on record.
Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO, put it simply. He said, “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.” That’s quite a journey from a single idea to a multi-faceted financial player.
This new funding isn’t just about growth for growth’s sake. It aims to pull traditional finance closer to Ripple’s orbit. The company plans to push deeper into institutional markets. Its stablecoin, prime brokerage, and treasury solutions are the tools for this expansion. It seems the lines between old and new finance are blurring faster than ever.
Garlinghouse took to X, formerly Twitter, to share his feelings. He said the raise “feels like the cherry on top of a mountain of good news” for Ripple. He referred to the past year. This good news includes the settlement of Ripple’s nearly five-year legal dispute with the SEC. Both parties agreed to drop all appeals, leaving the XRP ruling intact. It was a long road, but the path ahead looks clearer.
Ripple has been busy on the acquisition front too. The company reportedly made over $4 billion worth of strategic investments in 2025. These moves include acquiring prime broker Hidden Road, treasury management firm GTreasury, and custody provider Palisade. These aren’t small purchases. They show a clear strategy to build out a full suite of institutional services.
Building Bridges to Wall Street
Ripple has also been buying back its own shares. The company repurchased more than 25% of its outstanding shares in recent years. This provides liquidity for employees and early investors. It also opens the door for new institutional equity holders. Wall Street funds showed strong interest in Ripple’s expanding crypto finance products. They want a piece of the action.
The company’s operations have grown significantly. Ripple is making serious headway into institutional financial services. Its payments arm, Ripple Payments, has processed more than $95 billion in total volume. This uses both XRP and its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin. That’s a lot of money moving through their system.
Then there is Ripple Prime. This digital asset prime brokerage came from the $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road. It now offers collateralized lending and institutional XRP products. Since the deal closed, average daily transactions have tripled. Client collateral has doubled in recent months. These numbers speak to growing trust and adoption among big players.
Think of a prime brokerage as a one-stop shop for big investors. It handles everything from trading to lending and custody. Ripple is building this for digital assets. It’s a crucial piece of infrastructure for institutional adoption. It helps make crypto feel less like the wild west and more like a regulated market.
The Stablecoin and Treasury Momentum
Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin has reached a significant milestone. It crossed a $1 billion market cap in less than a year after its launch. This dollar-backed token is pitched as a regulated, institution-ready stablecoin. It’s designed for treasury, settlement, and collateral use cases. It aims to be a reliable digital dollar for businesses.
This focus on corporate treasury got a big boost from the $1 billion acquisition of GTreasury. This platform manages trillions in corporate liquidity for Fortune 500 firms. It’s a massive client base. GTreasury’s integration gives Ripple direct access to traditional corporate clients. These companies are now looking at onchain liquidity and 24/7 stablecoin settlement. It’s a clear sign that traditional finance is exploring new ways to move money.
Ripple stated that “In a post-GENIUS Act world, institutions are increasingly turning to trusted stablecoins like RLUSD for use cases such as treasury payments and collateral.” While the specifics of the GENIUS Act might be a deep dive for another day, the message is clear. Institutions are looking for stability and regulation in their digital asset choices. RLUSD aims to fit that bill.
The growth of stablecoins, as you can see, is a trend worth watching. Ripple is positioning itself right in the middle of it. They are not just building technology. They are building bridges between the old financial world and the new. This latest funding round is a strong vote of confidence in that vision. It suggests more big moves are on the horizon for Ripple and the broader crypto space.
