I just saw something interesting about Ripple that’s worth commenting on. The company has just launched a share buyback program worth $750 million, and the most striking thing is the implied valuation: it reached $50 billion. To put it into perspective, just four months ago it was at $40 billion, so we’re talking about a 25% jump in a short period.

What surprises me most is the speed of growth. Looking back, in January 2024, the company repurchased shares with a valuation of $11.3 billion. That means in just over two years, the value has quadrupled. It’s not exactly slow growth.

Part of this momentum comes from the strategic moves they’ve made. In 2025, they acquired Hidden Road, an important brokerage platform, for $1.25 billion, and then bought GTreasury, a treasury management provider, for $1 billion more. Basically, they are expanding the business from payments into a more robust institutional financial infrastructure.

This share buyback round will be open until April 2026 and allows early investors and employees to sell at approximately $143.43 per share, compared to around $125 at the end of 2025. It’s interesting that they continue using this controlled buyback mechanism instead of going straight to an IPO, which is what everyone would expect. Brad Garlinghouse and the team have made it clear that there are no plans for an exit to the stock market for now.

What I see here is a company consolidating its position in the financial ecosystem without rushing to go public. The valuation keeps rising, the business is expanding, and early shareholders are getting liquidity opportunities in an orderly manner. Quite solid if you ask me.