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- Ripple Labs CEO confirms a very high likelihood of becoming a public company, but after the SEC vs Ripple lawsuit is resolved
- While the lawsuit did serve them a significant blow, Garlinghouse views the court granting their motion as progress
- The suit isn’t limited to just XRP’s position in the American economy but concerns every cryptocurrency
While it isn’t news that the global payment solutions platform wishes to be done with the infamous SEC vs Ripple battle as soon as possible; what has left the whole crypto space awaiting the judgement right beside the XRP creators is Ripple’s decision to go public shortly after the lawsuit is resolved.
Ripple’s IPO Highly Likely
Attending a virtual conference, Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse expressed a “very high” likelihood of Ripple becoming a “public company – at some point,” but not “in the middle of an SEC lawsuit.” He stressed that any initial public offering (IPO) plans would have to wait until their lawsuit with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concludes. After all, the securities regulator will be the one approving the IPO.
SEC Vs. Ripple Lawsuit Battle
In December 2020, the U.S. regulator accused Ripple of misleading investors and selling unregistered securities, apparently their native token XRP, worth $1.38 billion. The gradually snowballing lawsuit battle witnessed the crypto firm requesting a dismissal, questioning the disputable grounds SEC labelled tokens as securities with. Meanwhile, the regulator proceeded with the executives’ personal financial details demands, and yet the suit is still in the process of discovery.
Remarkable Progress Momentum
According to Garlinghouse, for the past two to three years, all they’ve asked for is “regulatory clarity,” so he views the court granting Ripple’s motion as a “progress.” However, the battle did serve them a major blow, not enough to cease the firm altogether, but enough to suspend operations and pause inter-firm relationships within the U.S., including MoneyGram, the money transfer giant. On the brighter side, Ripple Labs is working with overseas partners to fulfil the mission of enabling speedy, cross-border payments. In fact, this year alone, the firm has signed over 20 contracts, seeing strong growth in Southeast Asia.
Ripple’s plan for an IPO listing following the SEC vs Ripple lawsuit resolution has been hinted at before, too. Last month during the earnings call, the crypto firm’s largest outside shareholder, SBI Holdings, represented by CEO Yoshitaka Kitao, announced the same, claiming, “The current CEO wants to do that. Chris wants to do that.”
The Battle Concerns Every Cryptocurrency
Ripple’s argument, affirming that the XRP token is a commodity and not security, would hold true for several other cryptocurrencies. Even Jeremy Hogan, a partner at Hogan & Hogan, agreed that with the SEC’s ridiculously high demands, the whole industry is at risk. As Garlinghouse said, “This is about more than just Ripple. This is about more than just XRP.” It has “implications” for every other cryptocurrency.
With a background in journalism, Ritika Sharma has worked with many reputed media firms focusing on general news such as politics and crime. She joined The Coin Republic as a reporter for crypto, and found a great passion for cryptocurrency, Web3, NFTs and other digital assets. She spends a lot of time researching and delving deeper into these concepts around the clock, and is a strong advocate for women in STEM.
