Ripple has raised $500 million in a strategic investment round led by Fortress Investment Group and Citadel Securities, valuing the blockchain payments firm at a whopping $40 billion.
Ripple Valued At $40 Billion After Latest Round
According to a Wednesday announcement, Ripple raised $500 million from multiple investors in its latest funding round, which cemented the sky-high valuation. Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace also took part in the raise.
The deal is a sign of a wider shift as Wall Street titans seek to gain exposure to the digital payments and blockchain ecosystem despite the latest market drawdown.
“This investment reflects both Ripple’s incredible momentum, and further validation of the market opportunity we’re aggressively pursuing by some of the most trusted financial institutions in the world,” said Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO.
While Ripple is best known for its XRP cryptocurrency, used to facilitate inexpensive, real-time cross-border remittances through its XRP Ledger, the firm has increasingly pivoted toward other use cases, including stablecoin, institutional custody, prime brokerage, and corporate treasury.
“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. Today, Ripple stands as the partner for institutions looking to access crypto and blockchain.”
Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin has ascended into the top 10 US dollar-denominated stablecoins less than a year after its debut. It is already being utilized as collateral in the company’s institutional brokerage platform, Ripple Prime.
Ripple has acquired six companies in just the last two years, including two billion-dollar-plus deals — among them, a Swiss-based crypto custody provider Metaco, treasury firm GTreasury, and crypto wallet technology firm Palisade.
The raise follows Ripple’s recent $1 billion tender offer at the same valuation, capping what the company described as its strongest year on record. Notably, Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally concluded their nearly five-year legal tussle in August after a court granted their joint request to dismiss their respective appeals.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/us-crypto-giant-ripple-hits-40-billion-valuation-after-500-million-funding-round/
