Ripple has closed a $500 million strategic investment round at a $40 billion valuation, drawing heavyweight backing from Citadel Securities and Fortress Investment Group.
Additional participants included Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace, reinforcing growing institutional confidence in Ripple’s post-regulatory era strategy.
The round follows Ripple’s recent $1 billion tender offer completed at the same valuation. CEO Brad Garlinghouse called the raise the capstone of the company’s strongest year to date, coming after the long-running SEC case that defined Ripple’s trajectory for nearly five years finally reached resolution.
A Year of Aggressive Expansion
Ripple did not sit still in 2025. The company deployed more than $4 billion in acquisitions, reshaping its footprint across institutional crypto infrastructure.
Key deals included the $1.25 billion purchase of prime broker Hidden Road, the $1 billion acquisition of treasury management firm GTreasury, and the buyout of custody provider Palisade. Together, the moves position Ripple squarely at the intersection of payments, custody, and institutional-grade liquidity.
Ripple has also been an active buyer of its own equity. The firm has repurchased over 25% of outstanding shares in recent years, providing liquidity to early investors and employees while tightening its cap table ahead of deeper Wall Street involvement.
Institutional Payments and Stablecoin Momentum
Ripple Payments processed more than $95 billion in volume, spanning both XRP and its dollar-backed stablecoin Ripple USD. Activity accelerated after the investment round closed, with average daily transactions tripling and client collateral balances doubling in recent weeks.
The Hidden Road acquisition has already begun to pay dividends. Rebranded as Ripple Prime, the platform now offers collateralized lending and institutional XRP products designed for hedge funds, trading firms, and market makers.
Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin crossed a $1 billion market capitalization less than a year after launch. The token is aimed squarely at regulated treasury, settlement, and collateral use cases rather than retail payments.
Bridging Crypto and Corporate Treasury
The GTreasury integration opens Ripple’s ecosystem to Fortune 500 treasurers managing trillions of dollars in corporate liquidity. The platform enables on-chain cash management and 24/7 stablecoin settlement, offering a real alternative to legacy banking rails that still operate on limited hours and batch processing.
With fresh capital, expanded infrastructure, and deepening ties to traditional finance, Ripple is no longer pitching crypto as an experiment.
It is positioning blockchain as core financial plumbing for institutions that care less about hype and more about scale, compliance, and efficiency.
