Recent insights from a valuation document have reignited discussion about Ripple’s initial public offering and why its value is directly tied to the XRP’s market price.
The document, shared by crypto researcher SMQKE (@SMQKEDQG), outlines how Ripple’s balance sheet and new accounting standards could transform its financial reporting and elevate its standing among top digital asset companies.
The report examined Ripple’s corporate structure as one built around its XRP holdings. It states that Ripple “appears to have no liabilities and two assets: cash or securities for $1 billion, and 46 billion XRP tokens.”
This establishes that the majority of Ripple’s value depends on the price of XRP rather than traditional equity or cash reserves. The document compared different valuation scenarios, showing that the company’s implied value rises significantly as XRP’s price rises.
RIPPLE’S IPO VALUE IS DIRECTLY TIED TO XRP’S MARKET PRICE + NEW ACCOUNTING RULES COULD MAKE IT ONE OF THE MOST VALUABLE COMPANIES IN CRYPTO ‼
Few realize how deeply Ripple’s future IPO value depends on the price of XRP. 😶🌫️
A 2023 valuation report showed Ripple’s implied… https://t.co/qhhL4PC8MV https://t.co/DuCXpLdKir
Valuation Analysis and Equity Discounts
At the time the analysis was conducted, XRP traded near $0.6. Based on that price, Ripple’s theoretical full value was listed at $28.6 billion. Secondary market estimates placed it at $4.5 billion, while a tender offer implied an $11.3 billion valuation.
At the current XRP price of $2.35, Ripple’s theoretical full valuation would rise to roughly $112 billion, with corresponding adjustments suggesting secondary market and tender offer values near $17.6 billion and $44.3 billion, respectively. This would place Ripple above Coinbase and several major U.S. banks.
The document described an 84% discount in secondary markets and a 60% discount in tender offers. This shows how private market equity values diverged from the token-based valuation model.
The report further explained that these figures reflected Ripple’s position as a token-driven company, where the market capitalization of its assets directly mirrors the value of XRP. With a large portion of Ripple’s holdings in digital form, traditional valuation methods struggle to capture the company’s full market potential.
New Accounting Standards Tie Ripple’s Value to XRP Price
The Financial Accounting Standards Board’s ASU 2023-8, released in December 2023, requires companies holding cryptocurrencies to report them at fair value. The report noted that this “could cause the financial statements for a potential IPO of Ripple to reflect the market price of the XRP token.”
This change means Ripple’s future financial reports could adjust dynamically with XRP’s real-time market price. SMQKE emphasized that Ripple’s largest asset is its XRP holdings and that every increase in XRP’s price directly boosts Ripple’s reported value.