In a year when crypto firms are queueing up for their Wall Street debut, Ripple is quietly stepping aside.
At its annual Swell conference, chief executive Monica Long was direct: “We are not focused on an IPO right now. We have the balance sheet and liquidity to keep growing and making moves on M&A and other big strategic partnerships.”
For a company long cast as one of crypto’s most bank-friendly names, that stance marks a turn. While peers chase public listings and institutional validation, Ripple is choosing independence.
The year of the crypto IPO
The timing matters. After years of regulatory gridlock, 2025 has brought a thaw. The US and UK have clarified digital-asset frameworks, restoring a measure of confidence among investors and underwriters. Crypto companies are seizing the moment.
Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, listed in June, raising $1bn at an $8bn valuation. Bullish Global, backed by Peter Thiel and Alan Howard, followed in August with a $13bn market cap. Gemini, founded by the Winklevoss twins, went public in September, while The Ether Machine is listed in London and plans a secondary US listing. Evernorth, a Ripple-backed manager of institutional XRP holdings, is also preparing an IPO expected to raise more than $1bn.
The message from these firms is clear: regulation is no longer the enemy, and the stock market is once again open for digital assets.
Ripple takes a different route
Ripple’s decision to stay private stands apart. The company recently completed a $500mn strategic funding round led by Fortress Investment Group, Citadel Securities affiliates, Pantera Capital and Galaxy Digital, valuing it around $40bn. Rather than chasing new capital, it is expanding its footprint, investing in its RLUSD stablecoin, growing its institutional payments business, and integrating recent acquisitions Hidden Road (now rebranded Ripple Prime) and Palisade, which strengthen its multichain infrastructure and security capabilities.
That strategy contrasts sharply with the public-market performance of its peers. Circle’s shares have slipped roughly 7% since their June debut, Bullish is down 36%, and Gemini has lost nearly half its market value since mid-September. In that light, Ripple’s restraint looks less like hesitation and more like discipline.
The cost of visibility
For many crypto executives, going public is about validation, proof that digital-asset firms can play by the same rules as their financial counterparts. For Ripple, which spent years battling the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the appeal is less obvious.
Public ownership brings scrutiny, disclosure and the relentless pace of quarterly reporting. Staying private means freedom: the ability to move fast, pursue deals, and think in years rather than quarters. It’s a posture that reflects confidence in cash flow and a preference for control over applause.
Ripple’s approach may also reflect lessons from history. The speculative excesses of 2021 and the collapses that followed, from TerraUSD to FTX, taught the industry that visibility is not the same as stability. The new IPO wave may be chasing legitimacy, but it also exposes firms to the same market swings they once tried to escape.
Caution or conviction?
Ripple insists its decision is not ideological. Long praised her peers’ listings as signs of a maturing industry. “We are really pleased to see crypto companies going public; that is great for our overall industry continuing to mature,” she told CNBC. But behind that diplomacy sits a calculated trade-off: credibility earned through longevity rather than ticker symbols.
Public markets have short memories. Private companies, if well funded and well run, can afford patience. Ripple’s $40bn valuation, coupled with recurring revenues from cross-border payments and enterprise blockchain services, gives it room to play the long game.
That doesn’t mean it will stay private forever. But for now, the company seems content to build in the shadows of its more flamboyant peers, banking on a simple truth: markets remember who survives the cycle, not who rings the bell.
The long game
Crypto’s evolution has always mirrored its contradictions. Once defined by rebellion against traditional finance, the industry now seeks its approval. IPOs bring capital and legitimacy, but also volatility and vulnerability. Ripple’s resistance to that gravitational pull suggests a quiet confidence, a belief that influence can be earned through utility, not spectacle.
As others step into the spotlight, Ripple is betting that endurance will outshine exposure. In a sector still obsessed with price charts, that may be the most contrarian play of all.
