Ripple raises $500 million at $40 billion valuation in round led by Fortress, Citadel

Ripple has announced a $500 million strategic investment round led by Fortress Investment Group and Citadel Securities, valuing the blockchain payments company at a staggering $40 billion.

The raise, which also included investments from Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace, follows Ripple’s recent $1 billion tender offer at the same valuation and caps what the firm described as its strongest year on record, according to an announcement on Wednesday.

“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,” said Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse in the statement.

Moving forward, the new funding is expected to deepen ties with traditional finance heavyweights as Ripple pushes further into institutional markets through its stablecoin, prime brokerage, and treasury solutions.

Garlinghouse said on X the raise “feels like the cherry on top of a mountain of good news” for Ripple this past year, after the firm and SEC settled their nearly five-year legal dispute by agreeing to drop all appeals. Ripple made over $4 billion worth of strategic investments in 2025, including acquisitions of prime broker Hidden Road, treasury management firm GTreasury, and, most recently, custody provider Palisade.

Strategic capital, record growth

The company said it has repurchased more than 25% of its outstanding shares in recent years to provide liquidity for employees and early investors. As such, the latest round introduces new institutional equity holders, following Ripple’s tender, which attracted heavy interest from Wall Street funds seeking exposure to the firm’s expanding suite of crypto finance products.

Ripple has expanded its operations in recent times as it looks to make headway into institutional financial services. Its payments arm, Ripple Payments, has now processed more than $95 billion in total volume using both XRP and its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin. Meanwhile, Ripple Prime, its digital asset prime brokerage built from its $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road, now offers collateralized lending and institutional XRP products. Average daily transactions have tripled since the deal closed, with client collateral doubling in recent months, according to the firm.

Stablecoin and treasury momentum

Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin has crossed a $1 billion market cap less than a year after launch. The dollar-backed token is pitched as a regulated, institution-ready stablecoin suited for treasury, settlement, and collateral use cases.

That focus has been bolstered through its $1 billion acquisition of GTreasury, a platform that manages trillions in corporate liquidity for Fortune 500 firms. GTreasury’s integration gives Ripple access to traditional corporate clients exploring onchain liquidity and 24/7 stablecoin settlement.

“In a post-GENIUS Act world, institutions are increasingly turning to trusted stablecoins like RLUSD for use cases such as treasury payments and collateral,” Ripple said in a Wednesday statement.