Business
Ripple says Fortress, Citadel Securities invest $500 Million
Ripple has raised $500 million at a $40 billion valuation, with backing from Wall Street players betting on the infrastructure underpinning digital assets.
The round was led by funds affiliated with Fortress Investment Group and Citadel Securities, alongside Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard and Marshall Wace, the crypto-focused financial technology company said in a statement Wednesday.
Ripple said the new capital will bolster its expansion into custody, stablecoins and prime brokerage services, areas drawing increased institutional interest as regulated digital asset rails continue to evolve. The company has processed more than $95 billion in transactions on its blockchain-based network, according to Ripple, which promotes its platform as a solution for cross-border payments. It’s US-dollar backed stablecoin RLUSD recently surpassed $1 billion in market value, making it the seventh-largest in the sector, according to data compiled by CoinMarketCap.com.
“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,” Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s chief executive officer, said in the statement.
Ripple’s aim is to be an infrastructure partner for institutions looking to access cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Interest from traditional financial institutions to enter the crypto sector has become more public since the dawn of the second Trump administration, which has scaled back regulation and embraced the crypto industry. President Donald Trump has already delivered major wins for the industry, including signing the first federal regulatory framework for stablecoins. Now, firms like Coinbase Global Inc. and Ripple are seizing the opportunity to present themselves as crypto-native partners for new entrants to the industry.
Earlier this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission ended its case against Ripple, one of a series of several enforcement actions that have been abandoned during Trump’s second administration. Ripple was sued in 2020 by the SEC, which claimed the company was offering unregistered securities when it sold XRP tokens.
XRP, the native token of the XRP Ledger blockchain, has risen about 8% so far this year.
