Ripple raises $500m in Fortress-led funding round, boasts $40b valuation

Ripple capitalizes on a period of massive business growth by pulling in a $500 million investment, with affiliates of Citadel Securities and Fortress Investment Group leading the charge to back its expanding suite of financial products.

On Nov. 5, financial infrastructure and blockchain technology company Ripple announced a $500 million strategic investment led by Fortress Investment Group and affiliates of Citadel Securities, solidifying a $40 billion valuation.

The capital injection, supported by a syndicate including Pantera Capital and Galaxy Digital, follows a period of explosive growth for the company, including a recent $1 billion tender offer that demonstrated intense institutional demand for a stake in its operations.

Ripple’s evolution

Garlinghouse noted Ripple’s journey from a single use case in 2012 into a multi-faceted institution serving custody, stablecoins, and prime brokerage.

This pivot was executed largely through acquisitions, including six takeovers in just over two years. Two of those acquisitions were valued at over $1 billion each.

The company’s push into stablecoins has been equally ambitious. Ripple’s RLUSD token recently crossed a critical threshold, achieving a one billion dollar market cap in less than a year since its launch.

The acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure firm Rail bolstered Ripple Payments into a full-service cross-border platform.

The stablecoin is already being utilized as collateral within Ripple Prime, the company’s institutional prime brokerage arm, demonstrating its practical utility beyond simple transfers. That momentum has been bolstered by Ripple’s October acquisition of GTreasury, a major player in corporate cash and liquidity management.

GTreasury’s enterprise clientele, spanning Fortune 500 companies managing trillions in assets, has opened a new channel for RLUSD adoption, enabling stablecoin-based treasury operations that run around the clock.

Underpinning this entire growth strategy is a relentless focus on regulatory compliance. Ripple said it has secured 75 regulatory licenses globally, a formidable moat that allows it to move money on behalf of customers across jurisdictions legally.