Crypto firm Ripple to explore IPO after SEC lawsuit ends, CEO says
• Ripple expects SEC lawsuit to end this year and commence market debut
• XRP-supported cross-border payments service jumped eight folds in one year
Crypto firm Ripple will explore the possibility of an initial public offering once its lawsuit with the US Securities and Exchange Commission ends, which has been going on for nearly 15 months, CEO Brad Garlinghouse told CNBC.
The company uses XRP, the sixth-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market value, to facilitate cross-border payments by converting fiat to XRP, which lowers the cost and increases the transaction speed and converting it back to fiat.
However, the SEC alleges the company, its CEO, and its executive chairman Chris Larsen have been engaged in an illegal securities offering through sales of XRP, to which Ripple expects it to end this year.
“I think we want to get certainty and clarity in the United States with the US SEC. You know, I’m hopeful that the SEC will not slow that process down any more than they already have,” Garlinghouse told CNBC during the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“But you know, we certainly are at a point in scale where that is a possibility. And we’ll look at that once we’re past this lawsuit with the SEC.”
Ripple's growth amidst bear crypto market
Garlinghouse’s comments come amid a downturn in the cryptocurrency sector that has wiped off billions of dollars from the market, which also hammered down the crypto-related stocks, including the shares of Coinbase and Robinhood.
XRP has been down more than 40% in the last 30 days.
Despite that, Ripple CEO told CNBC that the business is continuing to grow.
Garlinghouse said volume for its cross-border payments product known as XRP-supported On-Demand Liquidity totaled $8 billion in the first quarter compared to $1 billion a year earlier.
“Our growth is almost all outside the US. I think that’ll probably persist until we get the clarity and certainty in the US we’ve been seeking,” he said.
Picture Credit: CNBC
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