Crypto fintech company Ripple announced a $500 million strategic investment on Wednesday, at a $40 billion valuation.
The firm, whose founders helped create the cryptocurrency XRP, said that funds managed by affiliates of Wall Street giants Citadel Securities, Fortress Investment Group, and Brevan Howard took part in the raise.
XRP’s price was trading slightly higher on Wednesday morning New York time, at $2.28 per coin. The coin surged to a new all-time high mark of $3.65 in July after breaking a seven-year-old record, fueled by regulatory optimism and plans for U.S. spot exchange-traded funds tracking the cryptocurrency.
“This investment isn’t just validation of Ripple’s growth strategy and business built on the foundation of XRP, but also a clear bet on what the future of crypto will look like,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse wrote on X. “I’m very proud of what we’ve built, and all that’s to come.”
Ripple added in its announcement: “The decision to accept $500 million in new common equity reflects the strategic value of deepening relationships with financial partners whose expertise complements Ripple’s expanding global suite of products.”
It added that affiliates of Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, and Marshall Wace also took part in the raise.
Ripple focuses on helping companies move money across borders, but also offers products with other blockchain uses.
The company in October announced that it bought software treasury solutions company GTreasury for $1 billion in its third major acquisition this year, and last year debuted a stablecoin, RLUSD. Just this week, the company launched a spot crypto prime brokerage following its $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road.
The firm is working to take advantage of the crypto-friendly policies of U.S. President Donald Trump. The president campaigned on a ticket to help the industry and since taking office in January has implemented a number of pro-digital asset policies.
Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication with additional detail.
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Source: https://decrypt.co/347391/ripple-raises-500m-40-billion-valuation-following-xrp-historic-surge
