Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Dispels Circle Acquisition Rumors

In a Tuesday post on social media site X (formerly Twitter), Georgetown Law professor Chris Brummer shared insights from a conversation with Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, shedding light on the blockchain payment firm’s strategic direction and key initiatives. 

Garlinghouse Denies Pursuing Circle Acquisition

During their exchange, Garlinghouse made a firm statement asserting that Ripple had not actively pursued an acquisition of Circle, the issuer of the market’s second largest stablecoin by trading volume, USDC. 

While nuances in the discussion hinted at potential alternative price points for a prospective offer, Garlinghouse’s primary message remained clear: Ripple was focused on its own trajectory and not considering acquisitions, despite Ripple’s recent acquisition of Hidden Road pointing towards broader ambitions.

The acquisition of Hidden Road by Ripple was framed as more than a mere transaction. Ripple is positioning its RLUSD stablecoin as collateral on its ledger, reflecting a strategic move towards solidifying its infrastructure. 

Garlinghouse also discussed Ripple’s engagement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) regarding tokenized real estate, illustrating a tangible shift in certain regions where tokenization is evolving from theory to practical implementation, particularly within premium asset classes.

Ripple Charts New Course

According to Brummer, Garlinghouse’s vision for Ripple seemed to transcend a simple replacement of traditional finance with crypto. Instead, the firm appears to be positioning itself at the forefront of a hybridized financial landscape, where tokenized assets, stablecoins, and traditional financial institutions coexist and interact. 

This strategic positioning suggests a future where acquisitions extend beyond conventional entities to encompass prime brokerages, fiat on-ramps, and payment processors, bridging the gap between the old and the new in the financial realm.

Meanwhile, in a parallel development, Circle, the issuer of the widely-used USDC stablecoin, announced an upward revision in the price range for its upcoming initial public offering (IPO). 

The adjusted range of $27 to $28 per share, up from the initial $24 to $26, signals Circle’s confidence in investor appetite, regulatory trends, and its own standing within the stablecoin market. 

At the upper end of this revised range, Circle stands to raise approximately $896 million, propelling its valuation to a substantial $7.2 billion, reflecting a bullish outlook on the future of the company amidst a dynamic cryptocurrency landscape.

At the time of writing, XRP, the token associated with Ripple Labs, is trading at $2.24. It has consolidated between this level and $2.1 for the past week while being unable to find the catalyst needed to send the token near the $3 mark for the first time in four months.

Compared to Bitcoin’s latest uptrend, which saw it reach a new all-time high, this lagging price action leaves the XRP price over 33% below its record price of $3.40, according to CoinGecko data.

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com