Ripple Announces $1.4 Billion Share Buyback as Battle With SEC Heats Up – IPO Next?

• Ripple’s $1.4 billion buyback signals confidence despite SEC battle, hinting at an imminent IPO.
• CEO Garlinghouse confirms strategic buyback as Ripple eyes IPO, showcasing resilience and future growth.

In a turn of events, Ripple has announced its intention to buy back $1.4 billion worth of shares from investors and employees. This announcement was revealed by CEO Brad Garlinghouse during the Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2024 discussion.

As featured in our recent coverage, the crypto exchange is actively seeking a prominent industry leader to enhance its board, thereby facilitating the upcoming IPO preparations. Together, this action can be seen as a sign of faith in Ripple’s prospects, even amid its ongoing legal battle with the SEC.

Furthermore, Garlinghouse highlighted that the buyback is part of a series of tender offers, indicating a strategic, rather than responsive act. He also emphasized the company’s resilience in the face of regulatory challenges while considering heading towards the company’s IPO plan.

Will IPO be the next?

Worth noting, Garlinghouse says the company is now ready for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) launch as detailed in the last CNF report earlier this June, outlining that the company insists on removing Gary Gensler as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for that to happen.

Reciting a recent Bloomberg interview, Garlinghouse expressed confidence in a favorable outcome in the SEC lawsuit but did not specify a timeline for its conclusion. Importantly, the $1.4 billion share buyback reflects Ripple’s commitment to its stakeholders and confidence in its future growth despite regulatory hurdles, indicating that the company views an IPO as a “step in the journey” rather than an endpoint.

As of now, today’s Coin Market Cap data shows that Ripple (XRP) is trading at a price of $0.5574 with a decrease of 8.59% in the past day and a strong increase of 23.58% in the past week. See XRP Price chart below.