SBI Holdings CEO Yoshitaka Kitao says he’s ready to pour between $626 million and $1.25 billion into Ripple when the blockchain company eventually goes public. He expects that to happen in about 12 years — around 2038. There’s just one problem: Ripple executives keep saying they’re not interested in an IPO.
A long-time backer’s big bet
SBI Holdings, a Japanese financial conglomerate, holds roughly 9% of Ripple Labs, making it one of the company’s largest external shareholders. The relationship goes back to 2016, when the two firms co-founded SBI Ripple Asia to push cross-border payments in the region. Kitao’s investment pledge isn’t conditional on Ripple raising new capital today — it’s a future commitment for when Ripple lists shares publicly. He told local media he’s willing to buy Ripple stock on the open market once it’s tradable.
Ripple’s consistent no-IPO stance
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and President Monica Long have repeatedly shut down IPO talk. The company doesn’t need outside funding, they’ve argued, and plans to remain private. That hasn’t changed after Ripple raised $500 million in late 2025 at a valuation of roughly $40 billion — a round that included new and existing investors. With a cash pile that size, Ripple has the flexibility to expand without the reporting obligations and shareholder pressure that come with public markets.
Post-SEC expansion
Ripple’s legal fight with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission officially ended in 2025, removing a major overhang. Freed from that battle, the company has moved into custody services, stablecoin infrastructure, real-world asset tokenization, and a string of acquisitions. None of those moves require an IPO, and the company’s leadership hasn’t hinted at a timeline for one.
Kitao’s 2038 prediction is more than a decade later than most analysts had guessed before Ripple repeatedly cooled the IPO chatter. It’s also far enough out that the competitive landscape — and Ripple’s own business mix — could look very different by then. For now, the company says it likes things private.
