What Happened: Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) surged as much as 17 percent pre-market Monday on a Seeking Alpha report that it may own $7.8 billion in Ripple.

Seagate did not immediately respond to Benzinga's requests for comment.

Why It’s Important: Seagate previously invested in Ripple’s Series A and B rounds, and Seeking Alpha estimates 4.3-percent ownership of Ripple and XRP reserves. XRP is now valued around $2.32 according to CoinMarketCap.com, suggesting Seagate’s holdings near $8 billion.

Seagate’s supposed play is significant as traders continue to pursue cryptocurrency exposure. The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) saw a similar stock spike Friday on news that it was in talks to adopt XRP in 2018.

What’s Next: XRP is the third largest cryptocurrency in the world with an $89 billion market cap. Although it's down 32 percent Monday morning, it’s up nearly 800 percent the last few months, and continued peaks could inflate the value of Seagate’s alleged holdings.

Susquehanna cautioned investors that the development won't drive material upside given that it's an equity investment rather than token ownership and therefore not a source of liquid cash.

At time of publication, Seagate was trading up 6.6 percent at $45.81.

Seagate spokesperson Jenny Myers told Benzinga in an emailed statement Tuesday, "Seagate is an investor in Ripple. However, I cannot confirm the company's percentage stake in Ripple at this time."

Related Links:

Crypto Comparisons: How Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Dash, And IOTA Moved In 2017

New Year Predictions: Bitcoin Drops, Ripple Rises, Retail Takeovers, And The Trillion-Dollar Market Cap

Image Credit: LPS.1 (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons