Ripple Confirms It Will Not Pursue IPO After $500 Million Funding At $40 Billion Valuation

Ripple Chooses Private Expansion Despite $40 Billion Valuation

Ripple has opted to remain a private company, setting aside plans for an initial public offering despite completing a $500 million funding round in November 2025 that valued the firm at $40 billion.

President Monica Long told Bloomberg,

“Currently we still plan to remain private. Often the strategy driving an IPO is to get access to the investors and the liquidity of the public markets … We're in a really healthy position to continue to fund and invest in our company's growth without going public.”

The fundraising round drew major investors, including Fortress Investment Group, Citadel Securities, and crypto-focused funds such as Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace.

Long described the terms of the deal as “very positive, very favorable for Ripple,” though she did not specify whether these protections were essential for securing investor participation or supporting the valuation.

How Ripple Is Fuelled by Acquisitions and Strategic Investment

Ripple’s decision to remain private comes after a year of aggressive expansion.

In 2025, the company completed four major acquisitions — Hidden Road, Rail, GTreasury, and Palisade — with total deal values approaching $4 billion.

These moves are designed to position Ripple as a full-service provider of enterprise digital asset infrastructure, spanning treasury management, stablecoin payments, custody, and prime brokerage.

Ripple Payments has processed over $95 billion in total volume, while Ripple Prime, built around the Hidden Road acquisition, has launched collateralised lending and institutional XRP products.

Long explained,

“The whole strategy of our company is to create products. So the connective tissue that traditional finance needs to make blockchain and cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, all these tokenized assets, to make them actually useful and applicable in the real world.”

Why Ripple Sees Less Need for an IPO

Long emphasised that traditional drivers for an IPO, such as access to capital and liquidity, are less critical for Ripple given its strong financial position and backing from strategic investors.

She said,

“Between the strength of our balance sheet stand alone and interest from strategics like Citadel and Fortress, we’re in a really healthy position to continue to fund and invest in our company’s growth without going public.”

Earlier in 2025, Ripple completed a $1 billion tender offer at the same $40 billion valuation, reflecting sustained institutional demand for equity exposure.

The company has also repurchased over 25% of its outstanding shares in recent years, offering liquidity to existing shareholders while welcoming strategic partners.

CEO Brad Garlinghouse highlighted that the expansion into custody, stablecoins, prime brokerage, and corporate treasury “leverag[es] digital assets like XRP” and demonstrates Ripple’s broader ambitions beyond its original payments focus.

How Stablecoins Are Shaping Ripple’s Strategy

Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin reached a market capitalisation of $1 billion within seven months of launch, supporting both Ripple Payments and Ripple Prime.

While still behind larger stablecoins such as Circle’s USDC ($75.8 billion) and Tether ($183.5 billion), RLUSD forms a central component of Ripple’s ecosystem, particularly as institutions increasingly adopt stablecoins for payments and settlement.

The acquisition of GTreasury in October expands Ripple’s treasury capabilities, aligning with regulatory clarity provided by the GENIUS Act and growing institutional interest.

Garlinghouse projects the stablecoin market could grow from $250 billion to $2 trillion as adoption accelerates.

BNY Mellon serves as RLUSD custodian and is pursuing a banking licence and Federal Reserve Master Account, reflecting the company’s integration into traditional finance infrastructure.

Is Ripple Paving the Way for Private Growth in Crypto

By remaining private, Ripple avoids the scrutiny and short-term pressures of public markets, allowing it to focus on operational execution and product innovation.

The strategy also highlights a path for other fintech and crypto startups to achieve scale through targeted acquisitions and strategic partnerships rather than relying solely on public market capital.

Chief Legal Officer Stu Alderoty welcomed proposals from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller allowing crypto firms access to “skinny” Fed accounts, calling it “an attractive idea, and I think it should give traditional banks some comfort.”

Waller has suggested stablecoin issuers could leverage central bank payment rails directly, signalling a potential shift in regulatory attitudes that could further support Ripple’s approach.

This combination of strong institutional backing, rapid product expansion, and stablecoin-focused infrastructure gives Ripple the freedom to pursue growth without the constraints of an IPO, positioning the company as a leading private player in the evolving digital asset landscape.