Ripple buys back Series C at $15bn valuation

By Edlyn Cardoza

Ripple, a provider of enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions for cross-border payments, recently announced that it has repurchased shares from its Series C funding round.

In December 2019, Ripple announced $200 million in Series C funding—an investment that marked a record year for the business and further proved the value of blockchain technology in improving global payments and the broader utility of the digital asset XRP and the XRP Ledger. This funding series valued the business at $10 billion.

Tetragon led series C with participation from SBI Holdings and Route 66 Ventures. These notable investors not only underscore Ripple’s long-term potential, but as partners, they offer invaluable industry insight and expertise to help Ripple’s business grow on a global scale.

Recently, Ripple brought back all shares distributed from all preferred shareholders, including Tetragon, at a $15 billion valuation. This move has come after it was declared Ripple’s “most successful year to date”, with the Company stating that it is in a robust financial position, even with headwinds from its ongoing legal battle with the SEC, the US financial regulator. The Company said that Ripple is cash flow positive, has $1B in the bank, and a strong balance sheet.”

The Company commented saying, “Ripple’s business is booming, 2021 was not just a year of incredible growth, but our most successful and lucrative year to date, despite the headwinds from the SEC.”

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse also tweeted, “‘Slow down’ is not in our vocabulary. Even with 2021’s headwinds, it was our best year on record, and Ripple’s financial position ($1B in the bank) is the strongest we’ve ever been.”

The Company has also said that RippleNet’s payment volume run rate has exceeded $10 billion and that in 2021, they have more than doubled the number of transactions on RippleNet. They have also signed CBDC partnerships with the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan and the Republic of Palau.

The digital payments firm has been embroiled in an SEC lawsuit since late 2020. The SEC tried to sue Ripple and two top executives for issuing and selling unregistered securities in the form of crypto-asset XRP. In its defence, the San Francisco-based startup argues that the SEC did not provide “fair notice” that it would treat XRP differently to cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ether.