The strategy of #Ripple is evolving: from initially being a company that sought to replace the #SWIFT payment system with #XRP, it is transitioning into a conglomerate of financial infrastructure, having made several significant acquisitions (for example, Hidden Road, Metaco, among others).

This week #Ripple Labs raised US$ 500 million in a new funding round with a valuation of US$ 40 billion.

The round was led by Wall Street funds, including Fortress Investment Group, Citadel Securities, Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace.

#Ripple did not "need" the money according to the article: the company already held around 35 billion tokens #xrp , more than 30% of the total supply, which provides it with a quite powerful self-financing mechanism.

As a consequence of this funding, it is estimated that co-founder Chris Larsen increased his net worth from approximately US$ 10.2 billion to around US$ 13.8 billion.

CEO Brad Garlinghouse also made it to the billionaire list, with an estimated 6% stake in the company and other holdings, valued at around US$ 3.5 billion. #FOMCWatch $XRP