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Wall Street placed a $500 million bet on Ripple in November, lifting the company to a $40 billion valuation. The deal locked in protections that gave investors the right to sell shares back at set returns and jump ahead of other owners if Ripple is sold or fails.
The buyers in this $500 million deal were Citadel and Fortress Investment, joined by funds tied to Marshall Wace, Brevan Howard, Galaxy Digital, and Pantera Capital.
For some backers, the bet was not on software or payment rails but on XRP itself. Two funds in the round calculated that at least 90% of Ripple’s net asset value came from the token.
As of July, the company held $124 billion worth of XRP, much of it under lockups and slow release schedules. Since October 31, XRP has slid about 16%, and it is down more than 40% from its mid-July peak during the worst market drop since 2022.
Ripple’s investors are demanding payouts and control
Under the contract, investors won the option to sell their shares back to Ripple after three or four years at a 10% annual return, unless the company lists first. Ripple can also force a buyback at those windows, but doing so requires a 25% annual return.
Kyle Stanford, director of U.S. venture capital research at PitchBook, said these put options are rare and show up more with non‑traditional venture firms.
Kyle warned that such structures can push companies to burn cash or raise new funding to clear investor rights and shrink money for daily operations. A full four‑year buyback would cost Ripple about $732 million.
Those terms now sit beside rate swings as desks price exit risk into models each quarter. Banks track the clocks closely now. Across all desks.
Deals widen reach as market tests patience
The Ripple sale landed in a year when crypto firms raised about $23 billion through venture rounds and IPOs as Donald Trump returned to the White House.
That figure does not include Tether, which is seeking up to $20 billion and has held talks with SoftBank Group Corp. and Ark Investment Management. Shares of firms that listed in 2025, including Circle Internet Group and several crypto accumulation vehicles, fell hard in recent months.
American Bitcoin Corp., co-founded by Eric Trump, dropped more than 50% within minutes on December 2. Inside Ripple, Monica Long, the company’s president, said in November there is “no plan, no timeline” for an IPO. The firm also confirmed it has repurchased more than 25% of its outstanding shares.
Unlike Binance and Coinbase, which depend on trading volume, or Tether, which earns on reserves behind its $185 billion USDT, much of Ripple’s value still comes from the XRP it controls. In April, Ripple agreed to buy Hidden Road for $1.25 billion.
In October, it followed with a $1 billion deal for GTreasury. One investor executive said the XRP stash makes up almost the full valuation. Another person said Citadel disagreed.
Even after the selloff, Ripple’s XRP holdings were still worth about $83.3 billion as of Sunday, assuming token levels stayed steady since July 31. Prices still swing across desks as traders track exposure daily now.
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