Ripple is the only crypto firm among America’s 10 most-valued startups

Blockchain firm Ripple continues to record growth that has elevated the company to rank as the only cryptocurrency-related firm among the top ten United States most valued startups. 

According to data acquired by Finbold, as of November 2022, Ripple, with a valuation of $15 billion, ranked in the 10th spot among leading U.S. startups.

Notably, the company trails other established entities, including SpaceX ($127 billion), Stripe ($95 billion), Instacart ($39 billion), Databricks ($38 billion), Epic Games ($31.5 billion), Fanatics ($27 billion), Chime ($25 billion), Miro ($17.5 billion) and Discord ($15 billion). 

It is worth noting that Ripple’s latest valuation emerged after the company opted to buy back shares from investors who financed its $200 million Series C round in 2019.

Ripple bullish despite legal woes 

The valuation is a bullish element in Ripple’s growth, considering the company is facing a lawsuit by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) over the controversy around issuing of its native token, XRP. As the case progresses, investors’ confidence in Ripple appears unfazed, with the company registering minor wins ahead of the matter’s conclusion. 

The case, which is likely to have widespread effects on the general crypto market, focuses on whether Ripple and its top executives sold XRP to the public as unlicensed security.

In this case, Ripple has moved to boost investor confidence by building a solid defence. Part of Ripple’s defence accuses the SEC of a conflict of interest by declaring that Ethereum (ETH) is not a security while XRP is.

At the same time, a significant share of Ripple’s valuation stems from the company’s growing payment business. Ripple has continued to forge partnerships with traditional finance players utilising its payment systems in recent months. 

Impact on XRP

With Ripple using the XRP token to facilitate cross-border payments, the token has recorded gains as the high-profile case progresses. Interestingly, XRP tanked after the case was first announced; however, the token has attracted buying pressure in recent weeks as legal experts project that Ripple might win the matter. 

By press time, XRP was trading at $0.39 with daily gains of about 0.2%. Notably, the community remains bullish about the asset’s prospects, with a Finbold report indicating a machine algorithm has projected the token will trade at $0.42 by December 31.

In the meantime, the community hopes achieving this position will open the door towards hitting $0.5.