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Points of Focus
- Ripple Labs accounted for 17.49% of C1 Fund’s net assets as of June 30, ahead of Kraken parent Payward at 16.92%.
- About $41.3 million had been deployed across 11 private digital asset companies by the end of the second quarter.
- A partial Ripple share buyback generated a 141.5% return on the shares sold after just over four months.
Ripple Labs was the largest private company position held by NYSE-listed C1 Fund at the end of the second quarter, representing 17.49% of net assets, according to an Aug. 31 shareholder letter. Payward, the parent company of Kraken, ranked second at 16.92%.
The closed-end fund focuses on late-stage digital asset companies and holds private Ripple shares. Its latest US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) portfolio filing valued the stake at $7.46 million as of June 30.
Ripple tops an 11-company crypto portfolio
By quarter-end, about $41.3 million of the $53.3 million raised through the IPO had been invested across 11 companies. C1’s second-quarter results valued those investments at $33.07 million, equal to roughly 77.5% of net assets.
Another $9.96 million was held in short-term US Treasurys, or 23.3% of net assets. The private-company holdings also included Alchemy, Blockchain.com, Chainalysis, ConsenSys, Figment, Fireblocks, Uphold, BitGo, and Polymarket, alongside Ripple and Kraken.
Polymarket, Fireblocks, Uphold, and BitGo were added in 2026, while several earlier investments were increased. The portfolio now spans payments, custody, compliance, staking, exchanges, and prediction markets.
Ripple buyback returned 141.5%
The Ripple investment has already produced a liquidity event. According to the Aug. 31 letter, a partial share buyback generated a 141.5% return on the portion sold after a holding period of just over four months.
An earlier first-quarter disclosure showed that Ripple repurchased 1,407 Series A preferred shares for $422,100. The transaction marked C1’s first investment sale since its August 2025 NYSE listing.
Several other holdings are also moving toward possible liquidity events. Kraken and Blockchain.com have made confidential submissions for potential initial public offerings (IPOs), while BitGo completed its IPO in January.
C1 expands across crypto infrastructure
CFND began trading on the NYSE on Aug. 7, 2025. Ripple and Kraken together accounted for 34.41% of net assets at the end of June, making them the two largest private-company positions.
Recent additions have widened the mix of businesses represented in the fund. Polymarket, for example, provides exposure to a prediction-market sector that has also faced growing regulatory scrutiny in the US.
Share repurchases have continued alongside new investments. Through July 31, 249,300 CFND shares had been bought back and retired for $824,440 under a program authorizing up to $3 million in repurchases.
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