Ripple, Not XRP: New SEC Filings Reveal $275 Million Fund's Private Stock Position

A U.S. mutual fund has disclosed direct equity exposure to Ripple Labs rather than to the XRP token, but the headline figures depend on which report you read. Kinetics Internet Portfolio, part of Kinetics Portfolios Trust, reported holding Ripple Class A common shares in its quarterly Form NPORT-P filed with the SEC, according to tradingview.com and cryptonews.net, which put the position at roughly $150,000 inside a $275 million fund. crypto.news, citing the primary document, reports 1,875 Class A shares valued at $246,318.75 as of June 30, against $248.28 million in net assets — about 0.0992% of the portfolio. The disclosure became public in August 2026, and the same source notes the share count was unchanged from an earlier March 31 filing that described the same 1,875 shares as preferred.

Background

The filing lands at a moment when Ripple's corporate story and its token story have visibly diverged. Ripple Labs remains a private company, so the fund acquired its securities through specialized over-the-counter pre-IPO platforms for accredited investors, per tradingview.com and cryptonews.net. Those same sources tie the purchase to a softening in management's tone on a public listing: at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium 2026, CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the company now takes a "more neutral" view of an IPO, whereas senior management including President Monica Long had previously categorically denied such plans, citing a strong balance sheet and no clear timeline. The transaction also comes amid Ripple's own $750 million tender offer to repurchase its shares, which valued the company at $50 billion, according to those reports. On the regulatory side, the SEC has opened a proposed framework known as "Regulation Crypto Assets" for public comment, and the U.S. administration is holding direct closed-door meetings with Ripple executives at the White House, the same sources state. Separately, 247wallst.com and aol.com report that Ripple Prime closed an upsized $275 million private placement of senior unsecured notes on August 18, maturing 2031 with an 8.25% coupon and a BBB rating from KBRA. crypto.news describes the Regulation Crypto Assets proposal as a 402-page framework that would create tailored exemptions and disclosure requirements for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets.

What happened

tradingview.com and cryptonews.net report that Kinetics Internet Portfolio, a $275 million fund within Kinetics Portfolios Trust, acquired a direct equity stake in Ripple Labs Inc., disclosed in the fund's quarterly Form NPORT-P filed with the SEC. The fund owns Class A common shares issued by Ripple, and the position is estimated at approximately $150,000 — small relative to a $275 million fund. The filing reflects holdings as of June 30, 2026, but became public only in August due to regulatory reporting delays. crypto.news, citing the primary document, gives different figures: 1,875 Class A common shares valued at $246,318.75 as of June 30, against $248.28 million in net assets and $251.70 million in total assets, making the position 0.0992% of net assets. It explicitly notes these figures differ from initial reports describing a $275 million fund and a roughly $150,000 position. crypto.news adds that the disclosure does not establish that Kinetics bought the position during the quarter: the March 31 schedule of investments listed 1,875 Ripple preferred A shares with a fair value of $228,281 and a cost of $300,000, and the June filing lists the same share count as "Ripple Labs Inc Common A Shares" at a higher fair value. The value rose by approximately $18,038, or about 7.9%, between March 31 and June 30. crypto.news says the change may reflect a reclassification, conversion or revised description, but neither filing explains it, so any conclusion would be speculative. Kinetics classified the investment as Level 3, meaning it relies on material unobservable inputs because active market prices are unavailable, and listed it as an equity investment in a U.S. corporation, not marked as restricted securities. Because Ripple is privately held, the figure is a fund valuation rather than a quoted exchange price or evidence of a completed market transaction.

Market impact

The numbers in play are small in portfolio terms but pointed in what they measure. crypto.news calculates the Ripple position at 0.0992% of Kinetics' $248.28 million in net assets, with total assets of $251.70 million. The reported value of the holding rose by approximately $18,038 between March 31 and June 30, an increase of about 7.9%, from a March fair value of $228,281 against a cost of $300,000. Because the shares are Level 3 and Ripple is private, that gain is a valuation mark, not a traded price. The wider corporate figures cited by tradingview.com and cryptonews.net are Ripple's $750 million tender offer to repurchase shares, which valued the company at $50 billion, and the $275 million fund size attributed to Kinetics in initial reports. On the debt side, 247wallst.com and aol.com report Ripple Prime's $275 million notes maturing in 2031 at an 8.25% coupon, rated BBB by KBRA, led by Piper Sandler. aol.com states Ripple Prime still pays 3 percentage points above average BBB borrowers, and compares the notes with FS KKR Capital Corp's $900 million senior unsecured notes rated BBB- by KBRA in June, paying 7.50% and maturing the same year — 75 basis points cheaper. 247wallst.com reports Ripple has put roughly $500 million of capital into the subsidiary with another $500 million expected through 2026, and raised $200 million from Neuberger Berman in May at a $40 billion valuation. It also reports Ripple Prime revenue has tripled year over year since the October 2025 acquisition of Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, client collateral has doubled, and average daily transactions have climbed past 60 million.

Why it matters

The distinction the sources keep returning to is legal, not cosmetic. crypto.news states that Ripple stock gives the holder an equity interest in Ripple Labs, while XRP is a digital asset that provides no shares, voting rights, dividends or contractual claim on the company's profits. It adds that Ripple equity and XRP remain legally separate, so an eventual public listing would not automatically grant XRP owners any interest in the company, and that Ripple has not announced such an entitlement. The Kinetics position therefore gives a regulated U.S. mutual fund direct exposure to Ripple's equity rather than indirect exposure through the token — reinforcing a divide the source says its related coverage has already noted, in which Ripple's expanding institutional business has not consistently translated into XRP demand. tradingview.com and cryptonews.net frame the filing as part of a broader rush: with regulatory changes underway and Ripple's multibillion-dollar valuation confirmed by its tender offer, institutional investors are seeking exposure through the private market rather than waiting for an official IPO. The Level 3 classification matters too, because it tells readers the valuation rests on unobservable inputs rather than market quotations. And the discrepancy between the initial $150,000/$275 million framing and the primary document's $246,318.75/$248.28 million shows how quickly a filing can be summarized into a headline that the document itself does not fully support.