Ripple raises another $500 million at a $40 billion valuation from traditional institutions

SoftBank leads the $500 million fundraising

The extended Series D round, which closed in less than three months amid a post-election crypto market thaw, valued Ripple at $40 billion — 33% higher than the $30 billion it had set for its 2023 SEC settlement — marking the largest private fundraising for a crypto company since Coinbase raised $500 million to reach $86 billion in 2021.

SoftBank Vision Fund 2, a 2019 Ripple investor, poured in $250 million, along with a16z ( $100 million ) and Tiger Global ( $75 million ), signaling confidence in Ripple’s post-litigation pivot from ODL remittances ( $15 billion in Q3 ) to RWAs like tokenized treasury bonds and carbon credits.

CEO Brad Garlinghouse hailed the round as “ a validation of Ripple’s resilience ,” allocating 60% ($300 million) to RWA infrastructure — partnering with BlackRock to raise capital on-chain — and 40% to global expansion, including stablecoin pilots in the Asia-Pacific region.

This valuation, amid XRP’s 150% year-to-date growth to $2.45, implies 16x growth on $2.5 billion in revenue by 2024 – high but still justified by its 4% market share of the $800 billion in total remittances.

Ripple fundraising round: $200 million in 2019 at $10 billion before SEC lawsuit; now $500 million at $40 billion reflects a 4x recovery, outpacing Solana's $20 million ICO in 2018 to a $90 billion market cap.

Investor Composition and Fund Purpose

While Ripple has not yet disclosed a full list of investors, insiders say the round has attracted strong participation from sovereign wealth funds, fintech-focused venture capital firms, and institutional allocators from the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. The capital is said to be used to:

• Expanding Ripple's institutional product suite, including custody, cross-border payments, and tokenized asset issuance.

• Driving global regulatory expansion, particularly in Europe and Asia-Pacific, where the company is pursuing additional licenses under the MiCA and HKMA frameworks.

• Funding strategic acquisitions and infrastructure investments to enhance interoperability with public blockchains like Solana and Ethereum.

This capital raise also puts Ripple in direct competition with other institutional blockchain providers like Fireblocks, Circle, and ConsenSys — companies racing to build compliant, enterprise-ready rails for the tokenized economy.

Our view

In terms of market structure, Ripple’s $500 million raise reinforces its transition into a quasi-fintech holding company, balancing decentralized liquidity mechanisms (via the XRP Ledger) with regulated enterprise services.

The valuation suggests investors are valuing Ripple not as a cryptocurrency company, but as a next-generation financial network operator — similar to Visa or SWIFT in function, but built on distributed ledger technology.

Disclaimer: The information presented in this article is the author's personal opinion in the cryptocurrency field. It is not intended to be financial or investment advice. Any investment decision should be based on careful consideration of your personal portfolio and risk tolerance. The views expressed in this article do not represent the official position of the platform. We recommend that readers conduct their own research and consult with a professional before making any investment decisions.