Key Highlights
- Ripple stays private, relying on funding and acquisitions to grow instead of joining the public market.
- Major acquisitions like Hidden Road and GTreasury strengthen Ripple’s crypto and corporate finance services.
- Ripple’s approach contrasts with HashKey and Clear Street, which pursue IPOs amid strong investor demand.
Ripple, the firm behind the XRP cryptocurrency, is firmly keeping its private status, signaling a sharp contrast with other crypto firms pursuing public listings. The blockchain firm has no immediate plans to go public, despite growing investor interest and an aggressive acquisition strategy.
Ripple President Monica Long told Bloomberg Crypto on January 6 that the company is “in a really healthy position to continue to fund and invest in our company’s growth without going public.”
The company raised $500 million in a November 2025 funding round, valuing Ripple at roughly $40 billion. Long described the outcome as “very pleasing,” noting that the capital allows Ripple to maintain operational flexibility without public market pressures.
The valuation represents a dramatic increase from earlier benchmarks, including a share buyback earlier in 2025 that implied an $11.3 billion valuation. Major investors in the round included Fortress Investment Group, Citadel Securities, Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace.
Acquisition-driven growth strategy
Unlike other companies that are busy preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), Ripple is focusing on consolidating recent acquisitions. In 2025, it completed a number of significant acquisitions, the biggest one of which was the purchase of prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion.
With this deal, Ripple became the first crypto company to fully own a global broker that handles trading, financing, and clearing for both digital assets and traditional currencies.
Ripple also bought GTreasury for $1 billion to help companies manage their finances, and Rail for $200 million to improve payments. Long said merging GTreasury with Ripple’s system helps finance teams use unused funds and make instant international payments.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse added, “Together, we’re giving treasurers the ability to activate their capital rather than let it sit idle.” Later in 2025, Ripple also acquired custody firm Palisade, further strengthening its institutional offerings.
Focus shifts to integration
Garlinghouse said at the company’s Swell conference that acquisition activity would slow in 2026, with emphasis moving to integration and scaling. He joked that the corporate development team would be “very happy” to see the acquisition binge pause.
GTreasury, now under Ripple, also announced its first add-on purchase, financial automation firm Solvexia, continuing Ripple’s strategy of expansion through integration rather than new IPO capital.
Market comparison
Ripple’s strategy differs from companies like HashKey Holdings, which raised $206 million in a Hong Kong IPO in December 2025, valuing the company at nearly HK$19 billion. Strong demand, especially from big investors, showed high interest in crypto companies going public.
Meanwhile, Clear Street, a New York-based crypto treasury platform, is preparing a U.S. IPO possibly valued between $10 billion and $12 billion, signaling growing public market interest in crypto infrastructure firms.
Ripple is staying private because it can rely on its own growth and finances. By focusing on integrating acquisitions instead of going public, it can manage expansion without stock market pressures.
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