Ripple's shares trade between $135 and $170 in private markets, up ~2x to 3x since early 2025, valuing the company at $22B-$30B after several major acquisitions
Nina Bambysheva / Forbes : X: @danalexander21 , @ninabambysheva , and @forbes X: Dan Alexander / @danalexander21 : Among the donors to Trump's ballroom: Ripple, which has had quite a year with Trump back in office. New from @ninabambysheva: “In private markets, the company's shares now trade between $135 and $170, roughly 2-3x higher than at the start of the year.” https://www.forbes.com/... Nina Bambysheva / @ninabambysheva : Ripple has spent roughly $3B on acquisitions in the past two years and is now valued around $30B + XRP now has a $150B market cap🙈 https://www.forbes.com/... @forbes : Freed from its SEC lawsuit, Ripple, long a blockchain payments company with little actual business, is finally acquiring its way toward a legitimate multibillion-dollar crypto empire. https://www.forbes.com/... 📸: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile/Collision via Getty Images [image]
Context & Ripple Effects
Ripple’s current private-market pricing separates the company’s equity story from the earlier cycle in which XRP’s market value briefly vaulted past Ethereum’s; the report instead ties the company’s higher valuation to acquisition activity and its changed regulatory position.
The move also provides a baseline for the later tender offer priced at a $50B valuation, showing how private secondary pricing can become a reference point for employee and investor liquidity.
First-order effects
- Private holders and employees gain a higher implied mark for Ripple shares, at $135–$170 per share and a roughly $22B–$30B company valuation.
- Ripple has a stronger equity currency and market signal as it integrates the acquisitions cited in the report.
Second-order effects
- Acquisition targets and their investors may view Ripple as a better-capitalized buyer, potentially strengthening its negotiating position for further deals.
- The gap between Ripple’s private-company valuation and XRP’s reported market capitalization keeps investors assessing corporate execution separately from token-market momentum.
Third-order effects
- If private pricing continues to rise alongside acquisitions, crypto firms with regulatory clearance and usable balance sheets could consolidate more of the sector’s infrastructure rather than remain token-centric businesses.
- More private-market liquidity events, such as the later share repurchase tender, could make secondary valuations a more important mechanism for retaining employees and rewarding early backers ahead of any public listing decision.
The trend: Ripple is part of a broader shift toward mature crypto companies using regulatory resolution, acquisitions, and secondary-market liquidity to build durable operating businesses.