Ripple Was Marked at $50 Billion in March. Secondary Trading Says $16 Billion
Ripple’s private-market valuation has plunged roughly 68% from the $50 billion level set earlier this year, according to Forge Global data, highlighting a sharp disconnect between the crypto payments company’s latest headline valuation and its secondary-market share price.
Forge’s latest data puts Ripple’s Forge Price at $97.04 per share, implying a valuation of approximately $15.96 billion as of Sept. 2. That is dramatically below the company’s $50 billion valuation from a March tender offer.
The gap illustrates how private-company valuations can move sharply between financing events, particularly when shares begin trading at different prices on secondary markets.
Ripple’s valuation had been climbing steadily earlier this year. The company raised $500 million in November 2025 at a $40 billion valuation led by funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, affiliates of Citadel Securities, Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace.
Just four months later, Ripple launched a share buyback that valued the company at roughly $50 billion, a 25% increase from the November financing. The $750 million buyback allowed employees and investors to sell shares back to Ripple and represented a major markup from the company’s previous financing round.
What the Private Market Is Saying
The decline doesn’t necessarily mean Ripple’s underlying business has fallen by the same percentage. Unlike a publicly traded company, Ripple doesn’t have a continuously quoted market capitalization. Its Forge Price is a derived price designed to provide an indication of private-company value based on available market information. Forge lists Ripple as having high market activity, but the company remains private and its shares are available only to eligible investors.
Still, the difference between the two numbers is striking. Ripple has continued expanding its financial infrastructure business even as the valuation implied by secondary trading has moved lower.
In August, Ripple Prime, its non-bank prime brokerage, closed a $275 million senior unsecured notes offering, with proceeds supporting its U.S. business.
The company also remains closely tied to the broader crypto market through its payments, liquidity and blockchain infrastructure businesses.
A Bigger Test for Private-Market Valuations
Ripple’s valuation swing is also a reminder of how quickly private-company marks can change.
A $50 billion valuation can look definitive when it is attached to a financing or tender offer. But secondary markets can subsequently provide a very different signal, particularly when investors have more limited liquidity and changing expectations around growth, profitability and the crypto market.
For now, Ripple remains private, meaning there is no public stock price to settle the debate.
But Forge’s latest data suggests that the $50 billion valuation investors celebrated in March may already look very different in the secondary market.
Photo: Shutterstock