What is Ripple?
The enterprise blockchain network powering instant, low-cost cross-border payments for financial institutions worldwide
- Category
- Blockchain Payments Infrastructure
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, CA
- Founded
- 2012
- Employees
- ~2,000
- Total Funding
- $893.9M
- Valuation (Nov 2025)
- $40 billion
What is Ripple?
Ripple is a San Francisco-based enterprise blockchain company that operates RippleNet, a global payments network enabling financial institutions to move money across borders in seconds at a fraction of the cost of legacy correspondent banking. Its native digital asset, XRP, acts as a bridge currency for on-demand liquidity, and its RLUSD stablecoin provides a regulated, dollar-backed medium for institutional settlement. Founded in 2012, Ripple has grown into one of the most consequential companies in the global payments infrastructure space, now valued at $40 billion after a $500 million Series D in November 2025.
Ripple's core product suite includes Ripple Payments (cross-border settlement powered by the XRP Ledger), On-Demand Liquidity (ODL — which eliminates the need for pre-funded nostro accounts by using XRP as a real-time bridge), and RLUSD, a USD-backed stablecoin approved by the New York Department of Financial Services in December 2024 that surpassed $1.2 billion in market cap by late 2025. The company also operates Ripple Prime, a global multi-asset prime brokerage acquired through the $1.25 billion purchase of Hidden Road (closed October 2025), which now processes over 60 million transactions per day. In 2025, Ripple also acquired GTreasury (corporate treasury management, ~$1 billion), Rail (stablecoin payments infrastructure, $200 million), and Palisade (digital asset wallet and custody, undisclosed) — a total acquisition spend exceeding $2.7 billion in a single year.
The network spans 300+ institutional clients across 55+ countries, holds 75 regulatory licenses globally, and has processed more than $95 billion in cumulative Ripple Payments volume. The SEC's landmark May 2025 settlement — at a final $50 million, far below the originally sought $2 billion — removed the regulatory overhang that had suppressed U.S. institutional adoption for nearly five years. Spot XRP ETFs launched in November 2025 have since accumulated over $1.53 billion in assets under management, cementing XRP as a mainstream institutional asset class.
Ripple is targeting a $1 billion annual revenue run rate by end of 2026, excluding XRP holdings on its balance sheet. The December 2025 conditional OCC approval for Ripple National Trust Bank — which will custody RLUSD reserves under federal oversight — positions the company to deepen its integration into regulated U.S. banking infrastructure. President Monica Long confirmed in January 2026 that Ripple intends to remain private, citing a strong balance sheet and no need for public market capital.
What does Ripple offer?
Ripple's product suite spans cross-border payment rails, on-demand liquidity, a dollar-backed stablecoin, prime brokerage, corporate treasury management, digital asset custody, and tokenization infrastructure — all oriented around replacing legacy correspondent banking for financial institutions.
- Ripple Payments· Core Product
- On-Demand Liquidity (ODL)· Core Product
- RLUSD Stablecoin· Digital Asset
- XRP Ledger (XRPL)· Blockchain Infrastructure
- Ripple Prime (Prime Brokerage)· Financial Services
- GTreasury (Corporate Treasury)· Financial Services
- Palisade (Custody)· Financial Services
- Rail (Stablecoin Payments)· Payments Infrastructure
- RippleNet· Network
- Tokenization Platform· Emerging Product
- Ripple National Trust Bank· Regulatory Infrastructure
How does Ripple make money?
Ripple generates revenue through a combination of licensing and service fees charged to financial institutions using RippleNet, transaction spreads on ODL flows, XRP sales from its escrow holdings, custody and prime brokerage service fees via Ripple Prime, treasury management fees via GTreasury, and interest and returns from digital asset treasury management. The company targets $1 billion in annual revenue run rate by end of 2026, excluding XRP balance-sheet holdings — a figure that underscores the depth of its non-XRP business.
The primary institutional revenue driver is RippleNet licensing and ODL transaction fees. Financial institutions pay to access RippleNet's messaging and settlement infrastructure; fees are volume-based and negotiated per institution rather than published as fixed tiers. ODL customers pay a spread on each transaction rather than a pre-funded capital cost — Ripple claims this reduces cross-border transaction costs by 40–70% versus correspondent banking. This cost-per-transfer model scales directly with the growth of customers' payment books, giving Ripple a usage-based revenue structure with strong upsell mechanics as corridor volumes increase.
XRP sales represent a second, significant revenue line. Ripple holds approximately 50–55 billion XRP in escrow and releases up to 1 billion XRP per month, selling portions to institutional partners and on the secondary market to fund operations and ecosystem grants. The company's balance sheet includes substantial XRP holdings whose mark-to-market value has expanded dramatically alongside institutional adoption and the $1.53 billion in XRP ETF inflows since November 2025. Importantly, the $1 billion ARR target explicitly excludes these XRP holdings, positioning Ripple's core services business as the primary growth narrative for institutional buyers.
The 2025 acquisition spree added three new revenue streams. Ripple Prime (Hidden Road, $1.25 billion acquisition) generates brokerage, clearing, and financing fees across FX, fixed income, derivatives, and digital assets — Hidden Road processed roughly $3 trillion in annual clearing volume pre-acquisition. GTreasury (~$1 billion acquisition) adds SaaS subscription fees from corporate treasury management software used by enterprise clients to manage cash, FX risk, and digital asset exposure. Palisade contributes custody fees for secure digital asset vault management, a business that gains regulatory credibility via the OCC-approved Ripple National Trust Bank. All enterprise contracts are custom-negotiated; Ripple does not publish per-seat SaaS pricing.
Who leads Ripple?
Ripple is led by CEO Brad Garlinghouse and President Monica Long, supported by a leadership team that blends crypto-native founders with executives drawn from traditional finance and big tech.
- Brad GarlinghouseChief Executive OfficerCEO since 2017 (joined 2015 as COO)Former President of Consumer Applications at AOL and SVP at Yahoo!; architect of Ripple's institutional strategy, the multi-year SEC litigation campaign, the $1.25B Hidden Road acquisition, and the $500M Series D at $40B valuation.
- Monica LongPresidentPresident since 2023; at Ripple since January 2015Ripple's longest-serving senior executive and the face of its 2025 institutional-adoption push; confirmed in January 2026 that Ripple intends to remain private; leads global go-to-market and the XRP ecosystem strategy.
- Chris LarsenCo-Founder and Executive ChairmanCo-founded Ripple (as OpenCoin) in September 2012Serial fintech founder (E-Loan, Prosper); one of the largest individual XRP holders; active on RLUSD advisory board alongside former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair.
- Dennis JaroschChief Technology OfficerCTO from October 2024; SVP Engineering at Ripple priorEx-Head of Payment Platform at Square where he oversaw $150B+ in annual payments volume across Product, Design, and Engineering; PhD in Information Science from Humboldt University Berlin and MSc in Computer Science from TU Berlin.
- David SchwartzCTO Emeritus and Board MemberCo-architect of XRP Ledger (2011); CTO 2018–2024One of three original architects of the XRP Ledger; transitioned to board-level advisory role in late 2024 after 13 years in executive leadership.
How do you contact Ripple's leadership?
Ripple's verified email format is first-initial + last name at ripple.com (e.g. jdoe@ripple.com), used by approximately 58% of Ripple employees per RocketReach and LeadIQ data. Press inquiries go through ripple.com/contact/press — only credentialed press receive a response. Personal emails below follow the verified company pattern and are not independently confirmed for each individual.
jdoe@ripple.comHow much funding has Ripple raised?
Ripple has raised approximately $893.9 million across 17 rounds, most recently a $500 million Series D in November 2025 that valued the company at $40 billion — making it one of the most valuable private fintech companies in the world. The raise was co-led by Fortress Investment Group and Citadel Securities, marking the arrival of traditional Wall Street capital at the company's cap table.
Ripple's earliest institutional capital arrived in May 2013 when Google Ventures and IDG Capital Partners backed OpenCoin in a seed round, with a $3.5 million follow-on closing in November 2013. The company raised a $28 million Series A in May 2015 from CME Ventures and Seagate Technology, extending it to $32 million with a $4 million tranche in October 2015. Google Capital (now CapitalG) also participated in a 2015 round. The $55 million Series B closed in September 2016 with a marquee group of bank-affiliated investors: Standard Chartered, Accenture Ventures, SCB Digital Ventures (Siam Commercial Bank), SBI Holdings, Santander InnoVentures, and Venture 51. SBI went on to become Ripple's largest external shareholder (~9% stake) and launched SBI Ripple Asia as a joint venture.
The Series C followed in December 2019, raising $200 million at a $10 billion valuation led by Tetragon Financial with co-investment from SBI Holdings and Route 66 Ventures. In January 2022, Ripple repurchased shares from Series C investors at a $15 billion valuation — a 50% step-up — demonstrating internal confidence despite the active SEC litigation. A $100 million Corporate Minority round closed in December 2024, providing bridge capital as the SEC case neared resolution.
The landmark $500 million Series D closed in November 2025, anchored by Fortress Investment Group and Citadel Securities with co-investment from Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace. The round valued Ripple at $40 billion — a more than 163% increase from the 2022 buyback price — and was accompanied by a $1 billion tender offer at the same price. Investors received downside protection: the right to sell shares back to Ripple after 3–4 years at a guaranteed 10% annual return, or at 25% if Ripple elects early repurchase.
How did Ripple get here?
Ripple's history spans founding under the name OpenCoin, a rebranding, a years-long SEC battle, a landmark $40 billion valuation in late 2025, and over $2.7 billion in acquisitions that transformed the company from a payments startup into a full-stack digital asset infrastructure firm.
- September 2012OpenCoin / Ripple FoundedChris Larsen and Jed McCaleb co-found OpenCoin in San Francisco; the XRP Ledger was designed by Schwartz, Britto, and McCaleb in 2011, with the ledger going live in June 2012.
- 2013–2016Rebranding and Early Institutional RoundsOpenCoin renamed to Ripple Labs (2013), then Ripple (2015); raises from Google Ventures, IDG Capital, CME Ventures (Series A $32M), and SBI Holdings / Standard Chartered (Series B $55M). Jed McCaleb departs in 2013 and later co-founds Stellar.
- December 2019Series C — $200M at $10B ValuationTetragon Financial leads a $200 million Series C, valuing Ripple at $10 billion; capital used for international expansion and ODL corridor buildout.
- December 2020 – May 2025SEC Lawsuit Filed and SettledSEC sues Ripple in December 2020 for alleged unregistered XRP securities sales; Judge Torres' 2023 ruling distinguished programmatic from institutional sales; final $50 million settlement reached in May 2025, ending the 4.5-year battle and clearing the path for U.S. institutional adoption.
- April – October 20252025 Acquisition Spree — Over $2.7B DeployedRipple announces and closes four acquisitions: Hidden Road (prime brokerage, $1.25B, closed October 2025 — the largest deal in crypto history at the time), GTreasury (corporate treasury management, ~$1B), Rail (stablecoin payments infrastructure, $200M), and Palisade (digital asset custody, undisclosed).
- November 2025Series D ($500M / $40B) + XRP ETFs LaunchRipple closes $500M Series D led by Fortress and Citadel at $40B valuation; spot XRP ETFs launch in the U.S. and accumulate $1.53B in AUM within months, with zero net outflow days in the first month.
- December 2025OCC Conditional Approval for Ripple National Trust BankOCC grants conditional national trust bank charter to Ripple (alongside Circle, Paxos, BitGo, and Fidelity) on December 12, 2025 — allowing Ripple to custody RLUSD reserves under federal oversight and operate closer to a traditional bank than any prior crypto company.
Who are Ripple's competitors?
Ripple competes across two overlapping markets: legacy interbank messaging (SWIFT) and next-generation blockchain payment rails (Stellar, Circle, PayPal). No single competitor matches its full combination of bank partnerships, native digital asset liquidity, prime brokerage, and regulatory licensure.
- SWIFTThe incumbent interbank messaging network that Ripple explicitly targets; SWIFT gpi has improved speed, but pre-funded nostro accounts and multi-day settlement remain structural disadvantages Ripple exploits. Notably, SWIFT named 30 Ripple-connected banks in a new 2026 payment framework — a sign of convergence.
- Stellar (SDF)Ripple's closest blockchain peer; Stellar focuses on financial inclusion and remittances in emerging markets rather than large institutional liquidity corridors, and lacks Ripple's bank sales infrastructure and prime brokerage capability.
- Circle (USDC)Circle's USDC stablecoin competes directly with Ripple's RLUSD for institutional payment flows; Circle is chain-agnostic and has deeper DeFi integration, but lacks RippleNet's bank-direct settlement rails and also received an OCC conditional trust bank charter in December 2025.
- Visa B2B ConnectVisa's direct bank-to-bank transfer network targets large corporates ($5M+ transactions); backed by Visa's global brand and bank relationships, but does not offer XRP-style on-demand liquidity or a stablecoin.
- WiseTargets SMBs and consumers with transparent fee structures and local pooling; competes at the remittance and SME layer rather than the large-bank institutional tier where Ripple focuses.
- JPMorgan (Kinexys / Onyx)JPMorgan's blockchain payment network (formerly Onyx, now Kinexys) processes billions in intraday institutional payments; entirely bank-owned and closed-network, versus Ripple's open multi-institution model. Competes most directly at the large-bank tier Ripple is entering via Ripple Prime.
Ripple — frequently asked questions
