Ripple is not planning to go public anytime soon, even as other crypto companies have moved toward public markets this year.
This was confirmed by Monica Long, the president of Ripple, during the company’s Swell conference in New York, in an interview reported by Bloomberg. Monica said, “We do not have an IPO timeline. No plan, no timeline.”
Meanwhile, many major companies in the crypto industry have already completed initial public offerings as the value of crypto climbed across the first nine months of the year.
Stablecoin issuer Circle, exchanges Bullish and Gemini, and blockchain lender Figure all did their IPOs this year. Crypto sxchange Kraken is also preparing for its own debut.
Ripple receives new investment and expands customer base
Ripple announced that it raised $500 million at a $40 billion valuation. The investment round included participation from funds linked to Fortress Investment Group, Citadel Securities, Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and Marshall Wace.
The new funding allows Ripple to continue developing its products, securing partnerships, and expanding operations without using public markets.
Monica said Ripple is able to fund its operations on its own. In her words, “We’re in a fortunate position where we’ve been able to be very well capitalized and fund all of our organic growth, inorganic growth, strategic partnerships, anything we want to do.” She did not disclose the company’s revenue for 2024. What she did share was that Ripple doubled its customer base from one quarter to the next. She credited this to an increase in companies using stablecoin-based payments and a shift in the regulatory climate that made things clearer for businesses both in the United States and internationally.
Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse also commented on the funding, saying the investment “reflects both Ripple’s incredible momentum, and further validation of the market opportunity we’re aggressively pursuing by some of the most trusted financial institutions in the world.”
Ripple continues to market itself as an “infrastructure partner for banks and institutions that want access to crypto and blockchain tech without building those systems themselves.
Regulatory changes boost Ripple after ending infamous SEC lawsuit
Ripple’s business has been boost by changes in U.S. regulatory policy since the beginning of Donald Trump’s second administration, which has so far approved the first federal regulatory framework for stablecoins, giving companies a clearer understanding of how to launch and operate stablecoin-related products.
This has encouraged traditional financial institutions all over Wall Street to enter the crypto market in larger numbers.
Earlier this year, the SEC ended its infamou scase against Ripple, which had been going on since 2020 when the agency accused Ripple of offering unregistered securities through the sale of its native token XRP.
XRP has rallied by around 8% this year following expanded adoption and reduced legal uncertainty.
Meanwhile, the currently U.S. government shutdown (which is the largest ever) has slowed down public offering processing, affecting companies that filed IPO paperwork in September and October.
Companies Andersen Group, Medline, and Wealthfront had aimed to list before Thanksgiving, but the slowdown disrupted those plans.
According to Bloomberg, some companies that proceeded with public debuts faced mixed responses, meaning those that waited may not regret delaying.
