Wall Street Fund Puts Its Biggest Chip on Ripple Labs

JUST IN: A Wall Street fund just made Ripple Labs its biggest bet. C1 Fund Inc. (NYSE: CFND) disclosed that Ripple Labs equity now sits at 17.5% of net assets. That's a hair ahead of Kraken parent Payward, Inc. at 16.9%. The disclosure came in the fund's second-quarter 2026 results, released August 31.

Here's the part that matters. This isn't a bet on XRP the token. It's a bet on the company itself. C1 Fund holds Ripple Labs as private equity. That's a whole different animal.

Chronology: How We Got Here

Rewind a few years and Ripple was fighting the SEC. XRP was stuck in legal limbo. Most traditional funds wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole. But after the court rulings and the settlement, the story flipped. The company kept signing bank deals and expanding its cross-border payments network.

C1 Fund launched as a publicly traded fund focused on private crypto companies. Its whole pitch was giving everyday investors access to pre-IPO crypto names. For a while, Kraken was the crown jewel. Now Ripple has taken that spot.

The fund's Q2 2026 filing shows Ripple Labs at 17.5% and Payward at 16.9%. That's a tight race at the top. But the shift is real. Ripple is now the single largest position in the fund's portfolio.

Impact: What Just Changed

This is a massive signal. Wall Street's only listed fund dedicated to private crypto equity just crowned Ripple its king. Not Coinbase. Not Kraken. Ripple Labs.

Think about that for a second. For years, Ripple was the token everyone argued about. Now it's the company the money guys trust most. The market's verdict: the real value isn't in the speculative token. It's in the actual business, the team, the client list.

C1 Fund isn't a random crypto hedge fund either. It's a regulated NYSE-listed fund. That means institutional investors, retirement accounts, and financial advisors are getting direct exposure to Ripple's equity. That's a huge vote of confidence.

And it changes the narrative. Ripple is no longer just an XRP story. It's a private equity story with a public market vehicle attached. Investors can now essentially buy Ripple through their brokerage account. Wild.

Outlook: What to Watch Next

So what comes next? Watch the fund's upcoming filings for any further increase. If C1 Fund bumps Ripple to 20% or higher, that's another signal.

Also watch for other funds to copy the play. When one NYSE-listed fund takes a bold stance, others tend to follow. If we see more private crypto equity funds loading up on Ripple, that's a trend worth chasing.

The bigger question: is an IPO on the horizon? Ripple has talked about going public before but never pulled the trigger. With C1 Fund holding equity and the legal overhang gone, the pressure builds. Can Ripple stay private forever? Probably not.

But here's the thing. This isn't just about Ripple. It's about the whole private crypto market. C1 Fund's top two holdings are Ripple and Kraken. Both are private. Both are massive. And both are now locked in a tight race for the fund's top spot.

Traders are watching closely. Because if C1 Fund is right, the next big crypto wins won't be tokens at all. They'll be equity in companies you can't buy on Coinbase. And that changes everything.