Ripple Labs
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Technology, Blockchain |
| Predecessor | Opencoin |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Founder | Chris Larsen, Jed McCaleb |
| Headquarters | San Francisco , United States |
Area served | Global |
Key people | Bradley Garlinghouse (CEO), David Schwartz (CTO), Chris Larsen (Co-founder) |
| Products | Enterprise blockchain solutions, XRP Ledger |
| Website | ripple |
Ripple Labs, Inc. is a U.S.-based technology company specializing in enterprise-level blockchain solutions utilizing the XRP Ledger alongside other platforms. Established in 2012 under the name Opencoin, the firm adopted the Ripple Labs identity in 2013 and is situated in San Francisco, California.
Founding and early development
In 2011, developers David Schwartz and Jed McCaleb created a financial network resembling bitcoin but designed to consume less energy and enable quicker transactions. By September 2012, Chris Larsen and McCaleb had co-founded OpenCoin. In April 2013, OpenCoin secured angel investment from venture capital firms and acquired SimpleHoney to support broader virtual currency adoption. The company changed its name to Ripple Labs, Inc. on September 26, 2013. Later, on October 6, 2015, the brand was simplified from Ripple Labs to Ripple.
Banking products launch and global growth
In March 2018, a group of 61 Japanese banks led by SBI Ripple Asia introduced MoneyTap, a Ripple-based mobile application facilitating instant domestic payments within Japan. Two months later, Spanish banking group Santander launched One Pay FX, recognized as the first blockchain-powered mobile app for international payments using Ripple's xCurrent technology. Notably, xCurrent is not a blockchain or distributed ledger system; Ripple’s CTO David Schwartz referred to it as "bi-directional messaging" capable of future integration with distributed ledgers.
Ripple expanded its footprint in India during 2018 by opening an office in Mumbai and onboarding several major Indian banks including Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, and IndusInd as clients utilizing Ripple’s solutions. The CEO forecasted that by late 2018 "major banks" would implement Ripple products involving XRP cryptocurrency and anticipated "dozens" of banks adopting XRP by the end of 2019; however, these expectations were not met within those periods.
In May 2023, Ripple acquired Swiss cryptocurrency custody provider Metaco for $250 million, broadening its customer portfolio and global reach amid intensified SEC regulatory scrutiny of U.S.-based crypto firms. Subsequently in June 2023, Ripple gained authorization from Singapore’s Monetary Authority to offer regulated digital payment token services.
By April 2024, Forbes described Ripple as a "crypto zombie," highlighting its limited success in challenging SWIFT and reporting only $583,000 generated in fees during 2023 despite holding $24 billion worth of XRP tokens in escrow available for sale over the ensuing four years.
Funding rounds (securities offerings)
Ripple operates as a privately held entity and has completed several funding stages including two angel rounds, one seed round, plus multiple series rounds (A through C).
| Date | Funding type |
Investor | Amount (million $) |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2013 | Angel | Andreessen Horowitz, FF Angel LLC, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Pantera Capital, Vast Ventures, Bitcoin Opportunity Fund | 2.5 |
| May 2013 | Angel | Google Ventures, IDG Capital Partners | 3.0 |
| November 2013 | Seed | Core Innovation Capital, Venture51, Camp One Ventures, IDG Capital Partners | 3.5 |
| May 2015 | Series A | IDG Capital Partners, Seagate Technology, AME Cloud Ventures, ChinaRock Capital Management, China Growth Capital, Wicklow Capital, Bitcoin Opportunity Corp, Core Innovation Capital, Route 66 Ventures, RRE Ventures, Vast Ventures, Venture 51 | 28 |
| October 2015 | Series A | Santander InnoVentures | 4 |
| September 2016 | Series B | Standard Chartered, Accenture, SCB Digital Ventures, SBI Holdings, Santander InnoVentures, CME Group, Seagate Technology | 55 |
| December 2019 | Series C | Tetragon, SBI Holdings, Route 66 Ventures | 200 |
| November 2025 | Strategic investment | Brevan Howard, Fortress Investment Group, Galaxy Digital, Marshall Wace, Pantera Capital, affiliates of Citadel Securities | 500 |
Partnerships and initiatives
In March 2014, CrossCoin Ventures introduced an accelerator program to support startups enhancing the Ripple ecosystem. Participating companies could receive up to in XRP in exchange for equity stakes ranging from 3% to 6%, along with guidance from both CrossCoin and Ripple Labs.
Ripple established initial collaborations with firms such as ZipZap to broaden its payment service offerings. Additionally, the company played a key role in founding the Digital Asset Transfer Authority (DATA) in July 2013, an organization dedicated to establishing best practices and anti–money laundering compliance standards for digital currency enterprises.
Demonstrating its dedication to social causes, Ripple contributed XRP valued at $29 million to U.S. public schools in 2018. In March 2019, it unveiled a $100 million fund aimed at gaming developers, administered by Forte Labs, designed to encourage blockchain adoption within the gaming sector.
Recognition
Ripple Labs earned a spot on MIT Technology Review’s list of the "50 Smartest Companies" in 2014, acknowledged for its innovation in developing the Ripple protocol (RTXP) and its payment and exchange network, which significantly influenced its industry.
Regulatory and legal matters
On May 5, 2015, Ripple was penalized $700,000 by the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for breaching the Bank Secrecy Act by operating as a money services business without proper registration. Ripple consented to corrective actions, including limiting XRP and "Ripple Trade" transactions to registered money services businesses (MSBs) and improving the Ripple Protocol.
Ripple secured a virtual currency license from the New York State Department of Financial Services on June 13, 2016, becoming the fourth entity granted a BitLicense.
In September 2017, Ripple faced a lawsuit from blockchain company R3 concerning an option agreement allowing R3 to purchase up to five billion XRPs at $0.0085 apiece. Ripple responded with a countersuit alleging R3 failed to honor contractual commitments after XRP’s price increased significantly. The dispute was resolved in September 2018 through a confidential settlement.
A Financial Times article published in February 2020 disclosed that MoneyGram, a prominent user of Ripple’s XRP liquidity solutions, had received a $50 million investment prior to implementing them. Ripple provided the necessary software at no cost and subsidized MoneyGram’s XRP usage by $8.9 million during Q4 2019. The report emphasized Ripple’s dependence on XRP sales as a revenue source.
On December 22, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against Ripple and executives Christian Larsen and CEO Bradley Garlinghouse for conducting an unregistered securities offering worth $1.3 billion through XRP sales. The SEC claimed that Ripple withheld critical information about XRP and its operations from investors. In April 2021, a judge dismissed subpoenas requesting eight years of banking records as excessive but required the defendants to provide data related to XRP transactions.
In July 2023, a district court ruled that sales of XRP tokens on public cryptocurrency exchanges do not qualify as securities under the Howey Test, although sales involving institutions or fundraising activities might be categorized differently. This decision came after more than two years of litigation.
In October 2023, the SEC withdrew its lawsuit against Garlinghouse and Larsen.
By June 2024, Ripple had expended over $100 million defending itself against SEC litigation.
In August 2025, Ripple reached a settlement with the SEC, agreeing to pay a $125 million penalty while the SEC ceased further appeals.
Political activities
In December 2023, Ripple invested $25 million to launch a super PAC named Fairshake. Alongside two related super PACs, this coalition amassed $78 million from various cryptocurrency firms, industry leaders, and investors. By May 2024, CEO Brad Garlinghouse revealed that Ripple would provide an extra $25 million and committed to an annual contribution of the same amount aimed at countering opposition within the crypto sector. According to The Hill, more than $10 million of Fairshake's expenditures were directed against Katie Porter's campaign in the 2024 California Democratic Senate primary.
By June 2024, CNBC reported that Fairshake had successfully supported candidates who won in 33 out of the 35 House and Senate primaries it participated in. In May 2025, Ripple engaged Ballard Partners, a Washington lobbying firm associated with the Trump administration; this move reportedly provoked disapproval from former President Trump. That year, Ripple also made contributions toward the White House's East Wing demolition and the development of a new ballroom.
Controversies
In October 2020, Ken Kurson, a member of Ripple's board, stepped down following charges brought against him for multiple cyber-related offenses by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.