Ripple Labs Announces 750M Share Buyback at 50B Valuation

Ripple Labs announced a share buyback program on Wednesday, valuing the private company at approximately 50 billion and offering to repurchase up to 750 million in equity from employees and early investors through a tender offer set to run through April. The move comes amid a broader downturn in cryptocurrency markets, where Bitcoin has declined more than 40 percent from its October peak and XRP, the native token of the XRP Ledger developed by Ripple, has fallen over 50 percent during the same period.

The tender offer allows select shareholders to sell portions of their holdings directly to the company, providing liquidity without an initial public offering. Ripple has stated it has no plans to go public, a position reiterated by CEO Brad Garlinghouse and President Monica Long. By reducing the number of outstanding shares, the buyback aims to consolidate ownership and signal confidence in the company's financial health. Officials at Ripple noted that the firm has processed more than 100 billion in transactions, underscoring its role in global payments infrastructure.

This initiative follows a series of prior financing and repurchase efforts. In November, Ripple raised 500...