Institutional investors who took part in Ripple’s $500 million funding round largely saw the company’s value as heavily tied to XRP, estimating that more than 90% of its net assets are linked to the token, Bloomberg reports. While XRP is legally separate from Ripple, the company’s treasury held roughly $124 billion worth of the token at July market prices.
The round attracted major financial players, including Citadel Securities, Fortress Investment Group, Marshall Wace, Brevan Howard–affiliated funds, Galaxy Digital, and Pantera Capital. Ripple’s $40 billion valuation marked a record for a privately held crypto company. Investors, however, required unusually strong protections before committing, reflecting the risk of concentrated exposure to a single volatile asset.
According to Bloomberg’s Ryan Weeks, these protections included:
- The right to sell shares back to Ripple after three or four years with a guaranteed 10% annualized return.
- A 25% annualized return if Ripple forces a buyback.
- A liquidation preference, giving investors priority over legacy shareholders in a sale or insolvency scenario.
These terms provide a built-in downside floor, a structure more common in structured-credit deals than late-stage tech financings, illustrating how traditional finance is adapting risk management to crypto markets.
Since mid-July, XRP has fallen roughly 40% amid broader market weakness in October and November.
Meanwhile, U.S. spot XRP ETFs are approaching $1 billion in net inflows after 15 consecutive days of positive investment. The ETFs’ momentum has been supported by the SEC’s August ruling clarifying that XRP is not a security, giving institutional investors greater confidence in the asset.
