Ripple

In 2011 and early 2012, Arthur Britto, Jed McCaleb, and David Schwartz wrote the source code for a cryptographically secured ledger, aiming to create a faster, cheaper, and more energy-efficient alternative to the bitcoin blockchain; the ledger later became known as the XRP Ledger. In September 2012, Britto, Chris Larsen, and McCaleb founded the company, originally named NewCoin, Inc. and incorporated in California, with its principal place of business in San Francisco and an office in Manhattan. Larsen served as chief executive officer from its founding.⁠[1][1][1][1][2][2][2]

In October 2012, the company was renamed OpenCoin, Inc.⁠[1]

When the XRP Ledger was completed in December 2012, its code generated a fixed supply of 100 billion XRP, its native token. The three founders retained 20 billion for themselves (including 9 billion for Larsen) and provided the remaining 80 billion to the company; the company never owned the founders’ retained portion. XRP was originally called “Ripple Credits,” and market participants also commonly referred to it simply as “Ripples.”⁠[2][1][1][1][1][2][2]

In 2013, the company was renamed Ripple Labs, Inc. Around the same time, it set up the wholly owned subsidiary XRP II, LLC (formerly XRP Fund, LLC), through which it later sold most of its XRP; from 2013 through the end of 2020, the company continuously sold and distributed XRP and used the proceeds to fund its operations, while also selling stock to investors in multiple funding rounds.⁠[1][2][2][2][1][1][1]

In 2014, the company was reincorporated in Delaware. In May of that year, Ripple Labs announced that Germany’s Fidor Bank AG had become the first bank to integrate the Ripple protocol, using it for real-time settlement of inter-bank payments and intra-bank payments between branches.⁠[1][3][3]

On April 16, 2015, Ripple Labs appointed Brad Garlinghouse as the company’s first chief operating officer. He was previously CEO of the file transfer company Hightail (formerly YouSendIt), and had been president of applications and commerce at AOL and spent six years at Yahoo!.⁠[4][4]

On May 19, 2015, Ripple Labs closed a $28 million Series A funding round, with investors including IDG Capital Partners, the venture arms of CME Group and Seagate Technology, and Jerry Yang’s AME Cloud Ventures.⁠[5][5]

On September 15, 2016, Ripple completed a $55 million Series B financing, with new investors including Standard Chartered, Accenture Ventures, SCB Digital Ventures, the venture arm of Siam Commercial Bank, and SBI Holdings; the company had raised a total of over $93 million, and its existing investors included GV and Andreessen Horowitz.⁠[6][6][6][6]

On November 1, 2016, Ripple announced that Chris Larsen would transition from his operational role as chief executive officer to executive chairman of the board, remaining the company’s controlling shareholder; Garlinghouse, then president and chief operating officer, would succeed him as CEO effective January 1, 2017.⁠[7][7][7][7]

On December 8, 2017, Ripple completed the lockup of 55 billion XRP using the XRP Ledger’s Escrow feature, in 55 contracts of 1 billion XRP each expiring on the first day of successive months; expired XRP becomes available to the company, and whatever is unused at the end of each month is returned to escrow at the back of the rotation. The company said at the time that it had sold on average about 300 million XRP per month over the previous 18 months.⁠[8][8][8][8]

On October 2, 2018, Ripple announced that xRapid, its product allowing financial institutions to source liquidity on demand, was commercially available, with the first customers moving into production including MercuryFX, Cuallix, and Catalyst Corporate Federal Credit Union.⁠[9]

On June 18, 2019, Ripple agreed to a strategic partnership with the money transfer company MoneyGram with an initial term of two years, becoming its key partner for cross-border payments and foreign exchange settlement using digital assets, and committing that MoneyGram could draw up to $50 million in exchange for equity over two years; the partnership centered on xRapid, using XRP as a real-time bridge between two currencies.⁠[10][10][10][10][10]

On November 7, 2019, Ripple announced that it had surpassed 300 customers and that transactions on RippleNet, its global network of banks, financial institutions, and payment providers, had grown 10-fold year over year; more than two dozen customers had signed on to its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) product, which uses XRP as a bridge currency to eliminate the need for pre-funding in cross-border payments.⁠[11][11][11][11]

On December 22, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple Labs Inc., co-founder and executive chairman Christian Larsen, and CEO Bradley Garlinghouse in federal district court in Manhattan, alleging that the company had raised over $1.3 billion since 2013 by selling XRP through an unregistered, ongoing digital asset securities offering and that the two executives had made personal unregistered sales of XRP totaling approximately $600 million, in violation of the registration provisions of the Securities Act of 1933; the SEC sought injunctive relief, disgorgement, and civil penalties. Ripple has consistently called the suit baseless.⁠[12][12][12][12][12][13]

On March 9, 2021, Ripple and MoneyGram decided to end their partnership agreement; the two said that together they had processed billions of dollars through RippleNet and ODL during the partnership.⁠[14][14]

On May 17, 2023, Ripple announced the acquisition of Metaco, a Swiss provider of digital asset custody and tokenization technology, for $250 million, entering the institutional crypto custody market. The company said at the time that its customers were in over 55 countries and that it had payout capabilities in more than 70 markets.⁠[15][15][15]

On July 13, 2023, Judge Analisa Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled on the parties’ motions for summary judgment. The SEC had alleged three categories of conduct: direct sales to institutional and other buyers under written contracts (about $728 million in proceeds), programmatic sales by algorithm on digital asset exchanges (about $757 million), and other distributions, such as paying employees in XRP (about $609 million recorded). The court found that the institutional sales constituted unregistered securities offerings, while the programmatic sales, other distributions, and Larsen’s and Garlinghouse’s personal sales did not; it held that the aiding and abetting claims against the two executives had to go to a jury.⁠[1][1][1][1][1][1][1]

Ripple called the ruling a landmark victory, and Garlinghouse said he hoped it would be the turning point for Congress to set clear rules for crypto.⁠[13][13]

On October 3, 2023, the court denied the SEC’s motion for an interlocutory appeal of rulings including those on programmatic sales and set the aiding and abetting claims against Larsen and Garlinghouse for trial; on October 19, the SEC dismissed its remaining claims against the two by stipulation, obviating the trial.⁠[16][16][16][16]

On November 8, 2023, Ripple renamed its crypto-enabled cross-border payments product from RippleNet to Ripple Payments; the company then held more than 30 licenses, including a Major Payments Institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and money transmitter licenses across U.S. states.⁠[17][17]

On February 13, 2024, Ripple announced that it had agreed to acquire Standard Custody & Trust Company, a regulated digital asset platform, gaining its limited purpose trust charter and money transmitter licenses. Together with its subsidiaries, the company then held a New York BitLicense, nearly 40 U.S. money transmitter licenses, and a Major Payment Institution license in Singapore, and was registered as a virtual asset service provider with the Central Bank of Ireland.⁠[18][18][18]

On April 4, 2024, Ripple announced plans to launch a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar, with reserves consisting of U.S. dollar deposits, short-term U.S. government treasuries, and other cash equivalents, audited by a third-party accounting firm with monthly attestations, launching first on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum.⁠[19][19][19][19]

On August 7, 2024, Judge Torres ruled on remedies for the institutional sales. The SEC had sought about $876 million in disgorgement, about $198 million in prejudgment interest, and an approximately $876 million civil penalty, while Ripple argued the penalty should not exceed $10 million. The court held that binding Second Circuit precedent precluded ordering disgorgement, and ultimately permanently enjoined Ripple from violating the registration provisions of Section 5 of the Securities Act and imposed a civil penalty of $125,035,150, payable within 30 days of the judgment.⁠[16][16][16][16][16][20][20][20]

On December 17, 2024, the U.S. dollar stablecoin Ripple USD (RLUSD) became available on global exchanges, initially Uphold, Bitso, MoonPay, Archax, and CoinMENA; each RLUSD token is fully backed by U.S. dollar deposits, U.S. government bonds, and cash equivalents, and Ripple pledged to publish monthly attestations of its reserves by an independent auditor. Garlinghouse said the company made a deliberate choice to issue the stablecoin under a New York Department of Financial Services limited purpose trust company charter.⁠[21][21][21][21][21]

On April 8, 2025, Ripple announced that it was acquiring the prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. Hidden Road provides institutional clients with clearing, prime brokerage, and financing across foreign exchange, digital assets, derivatives, swaps, and fixed income, clearing about $3 trillion annually across markets with more than 300 institutional customers; Ripple had participated in its Series B and was a customer of its platform. Under the plan, Hidden Road would use RLUSD as collateral across its prime brokerage products and migrate its post-trade activity to the XRP Ledger. Garlinghouse said the U.S. market was effectively open for the first time now that the regulatory overhang of the former SEC was coming to an end.⁠[22][22][22][22][22][22][22]

On June 26, 2025, Judge Torres denied a joint request by the SEC and Ripple, which less than two weeks earlier had asked the court to reduce the penalty to $50 million and lift the injunction restricting Ripple’s sales of XRP. The judge held that while the SEC may change course in enforcement, the parties cannot agree to no longer be bound by the court’s final judgment. Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty responded that “either way, XRP’s legal status as not a security remains unchanged.”⁠[23][23][23][23][23]

On August 7, 2025, the SEC and Ripple, Garlinghouse, and Larsen filed a joint stipulation of dismissal, dismissing the SEC’s appeal and Ripple’s cross-appeal in the Second Circuit and ending the civil enforcement action; the district court’s final judgment, a civil penalty of $125,035,150 and an injunction prohibiting Ripple from violating the registration provisions of the Securities Act, remains in effect.⁠[24][24][24][24]

The same day, Ripple announced that it had agreed to acquire Rail, a Toronto-based stablecoin-powered platform for global payments, for $200 million, adding virtual accounts and automated back-office capabilities to Ripple Payments.⁠[25][25][25]

On October 16, 2025, Ripple announced its $1 billion acquisition of the treasury management system company GTreasury, entering the corporate treasury management market; it was Ripple’s third major acquisition of the year, after Hidden Road and Rail. In April 2026, the post-acquisition Ripple Treasury said it had facilitated $13 trillion in payments for clients in 2025.⁠[26][26][27]

The acquisition of Hidden Road was completed in October 2025, and it has since operated as Ripple Prime. On November 3, 2025, Ripple Prime launched OTC spot prime brokerage for digital assets in the United States, allowing U.S. institutional clients to trade dozens of digital assets including XRP and RLUSD and cross-margin them with OTC swaps and CME futures and options.⁠[28][28][28][28]

The same day, Ripple announced the acquisition of the digital asset wallet and custody company Palisade, adding “wallet-as-a-service” capabilities for fintechs, crypto-native firms, and corporates.⁠[29][29][29]

On November 5, 2025, Ripple announced a $500 million strategic investment at a post-money valuation of $40 billion, led by funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, affiliates of Citadel Securities, Pantera Capital, Galaxy DigitalGalaxy DigitalGalaxy Digital (Galaxy Digital Inc., Nasdaq and Toronto Stock Exchange: GLXY) is a New York-based digital asset financial services and data center infrastructure company founded by Mike Novogratz, which says it was founded in 2018. It provides institutional clients with digital asset trading, lending, investment banking, asset management, staking, and custody technology services, and is building data centers in Texas for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.Open the full entry, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace; the company had previously completed a $1 billion tender offer at the same valuation and had repurchased more than 25% of its outstanding shares in recent years. The company said it had completed six acquisitions in just over two years, that total Ripple Payments volume had surpassed $95 billion, and that RLUSD’s market capitalization had exceeded $1 billion less than a year after launch.⁠[30][30][30][30][30][30]

On December 12, 2025, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency conditionally approved Ripple’s application to establish Ripple National Trust Bank, a federally supervised trust bank. Ripple said that, once final approval is obtained, the trust bank will manage RLUSD reserves and RLUSD will be supervised by both the New York Department of Financial Services and the OCC.⁠[31][31][31]

As of December 31, 2025, the Teucrium 2x Long Daily XRP ETF, which commenced operations on April 8, 2025, had $30,909,912 in collateral posted at Ripple Prime, alongside collateral it posted at brokers including ADM Investor Services, Wedbush Securities, Marex, and StoneX.⁠[32][32]

On February 2, 2026, Ripple received an EU Electronic Money Institution license approved by Luxembourg’s Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF); the previous month, Ripple had obtained an Electronic Money Institution license and cryptoasset registration from the UK Financial Conduct Authority.⁠[33][33]

On May 11, 2026, Ripple Prime secured a $200 million debt facility from funds managed by Neuberger Specialty Finance, to be used to extend financing to clients; the company said Ripple Prime had tripled its revenue year over year since the 2025 acquisition.⁠[34][34][34]

On July 6, 2026, Ripple received a Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) license authorized by Luxembourg’s Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier, allowing it under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) to provide regulated crypto payment services across all 30 countries of the European Economic Area; the company said it held more than 75 licenses globally.⁠[35][35][35]

As of July 31, 2026, the leveraged Tradr 2X Long SNDK Daily ETF (which seeks two times the daily performance of SanDisk stock) had an equity swap with Ripple Prime on SanDisk stock with a notional amount of $64,362,411, under which the fund paid financing at the Overnight Bank Funding Rate plus 400 basis points (7.63% at the time), maturing on August 24, 2027. The fund’s other swap counterparties included Clear Street, Jane Street, Marex, TD Cowen, and Wells Fargo, with notional amounts of about $1.397 billion for Wells Fargo and about $732 million for Clear Street.⁠[36][36][36][36][36][36][36]

On August 18, 2026, Ripple announced that its non-bank prime brokerage Ripple Prime had closed an upsized $275 million private placement of senior unsecured notes, for working capital and general corporate purposes; the rating agency KBRA gave the notes an investment grade BBB rating, and Piper Sandler acted as lead placement agent.⁠[37][37][37][37]

On August 27, 2026, Ripple Prime launched a Delta One business offering hedge funds, asset managers, and other institutions total return swaps on U.S.-listed equities, indices, and digital assets. The company stressed that Ripple Prime operates solely in clearing and financing, unlike traditional Delta One desks that sit alongside market-making or proprietary trading businesses; it has over $1 billion in regulatory net capital.⁠[38][38][38][38]

On October 6, 2026, Ripple and the alternative investment manager Brevan Howard announced an expanded partnership under which Ripple Prime will provide multi-asset prime brokerage, clearing, and financing services to Brevan Howard funds; funds managed by affiliates of Brevan Howard had also participated in Ripple’s $500 million strategic investment in 2025.⁠[39][39]

XRP is the native token of the XRP Ledger, a decentralized layer-1 public blockchain based on open-source software; anyone can use the ledger, submit transactions, host a node to contribute to validation, or propose code changes. Ripple describes itself as a technology company whose solutions use XRP, RLUSD, and other digital assets, as well as a holder of XRP and one of many developers contributing to it. Some, but not all, of Ripple’s products rely on the XRP Ledger and XRP.⁠[40][40][1][1][40][1]

Ripple discloses its XRP holdings quarterly. As of June 30, 2026, Ripple held about 37.66 billion XRP, of which 32.6 billion were locked in on-chain escrow; cumulative XRP distributed totaled about 62.33 billion.⁠[40][40][40][40]

As of October 2026, Ripple’s businesses included cross-border payments (Ripple Payments), digital asset custody (Ripple Custody), the RLUSD stablecoin, prime brokerage (Ripple Prime), and corporate treasury management (Ripple Treasury). Ripple Prime is the trade name of Hidden Road, whose operating entities include Hidden Road Partners CIV US LLC, Hidden Road Partners CIV UK Ltd., and Hidden Road Partners CIV NL B.V. The company says it has more than 1,000 employees and more than 15 offices worldwide.⁠[41][41][29][17][27][41][41][41][42][42][43][43]

As of October 2026, Brad Garlinghouse was chief executive officer, Monica Long was president, Jon Bilich was chief financial officer, and Stuart Alderoty was chief legal officer; co-founder Chris Larsen was executive chairman of the board, and board members also included David Schwartz, one of the original developers of the XRP Ledger.⁠[44][44][44][44]

Ripple: Official website: https://ripple.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[41]

X: Public account: https://x.com/Ripple (opens in a new window)⁠[45]

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