Ripple’s $130 Billion Secret: SBI Just Dropped a Bombshell (And Nobody Noticed 😏)

by

Now, sit tight and hold onto your hats—SBI Holdings just told its shareholders something most folks wouldn’t whisper to their neighbors. The bigwigs over at SBI got a nice, shiny slice of Ripple Labs, but don’t go looking for its value on their books. No sir, that treasure’s buried deeper than Huck Finn’s loot until Ripple decides to throw itself a big ol’ IPO shindig or gets appraised by some third party as sober as Aunt Polly. In the meantime, management’s sitting on what they call “an enormous amount of unrealized profit”—which, I reckon, is rich-folk talk for a pile of money so big it could choke a whole school of river catfish. 🤑

The news crept out in the group’s results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025—numbers flashed up on May 9. Let’s talk brass tacks: consolidated revenue ran up a ¥1.443 trillion ($9.39 billion) tab, a 19.3% year-on-year climb, and profit before tax near doubled—¥282.3 billion ($1.83 billion)—mostly ’cause SBI’s PE deals and all those digital doodads (ahem, crypto assets) are roaring like a Mississippi steamboat at high tide.

Nobody Knows What Ripple’s Worth—and That’s the Point

The private-equity folks at SBI even made a slide with more footnotes than a lawman’s diary to explain their Ripple accounting: “We own shares in Ripple Lab, sure, but those are still unlisted, and the XRP that’s locked in Ripple’s piggy bank? Can’t count that bird till it hatches through an IPO or the like.”

Now this hidden fortune isn’t just some whittled-down number—it’s a whale. SBI reminded their investors they bought into Ripple way back before folks were arguing about Bitcoin in barber shops and now own just shy of 10% of the barn. Add up Ripple’s escrow and what’s loose in the wild, and you’re staring at a notional market cap around ¥20 trillion ($130 billion), with a heap of tokens still locked up tighter than grandma’s secret cookie recipe.

During a Q&A more drawn-out than a lawyer’s closing speech, SBI’s brass made it clear: “All that XRP locked up with Ripple Lab? Not in our books till some big public event cracks open the vault. Once that day comes, profits will surge—an ‘extraordinary amount’ (which is CEO-speak for ‘someone call the Brinks truck, we’re gonna need it’).”

Here’s a zinger for you: “Ever since Mr. Trump’s been on the scene, America’s had a soft spot for crypto (much obliged, I guess)…” And if Ripple finally lists? That “unrealized profit” could bust out and blow past one trillion yen ($6.5 billion) like a bull at a rodeo. Yeehaw! 🐂💸

Tokyo’s rumor mill’s been cranking overtime about when Ripple will finally go public. SBI’s boss, Yoshitaka Kitao, has been hinting for years: Ripple’s first gotta square things with the SEC—who’ve been as pesky as a swarm of summer skeeters. Well, thanks to a May 8 settlement, the big US regulators finally gave Ripple a handshake (with court approval still dangling). The result? No formal valuation yet, but at least the storm clouds are clearing for an IPO parade.

Meanwhile, SBI’s Crypto-asset Business is strutting like a rooster: pulled in ¥80.8 billion ($526 million) in revenue and ¥21.2 billion ($138 million) in profit before tax—a whopping 151.8% jump year-over-year. Market-makers and a bustling throng of retail customers are to thank. SBI suits are already calling this “explosive growth potential”—and, for once, that’s not just fancy marketing jabber.

SBI’s amassed more than ¥10 trillion ($65 billion) under management, and they’ve set their sights higher than Tom Sawyer’s imagination: double the pot by 2027. A Ripple IPO could help bankroll that growth and turn their private-equity game from a poker bluff into a royal flush.

But for now? They’re playing the long game, claiming “there aren’t as many people who understand our operations” (including, apparently, their own staff). Once Ripple’s riches aren’t just “hidden in plain sight”—well, SBI reckons the profits will holler loud enough for everyone to hear.

At the time the news spilled, XRP was waltzing around at $2.45—ain’t that something? 😂

Read More

2025-05-12 20:51