- Brad Garlinghouse hints that an initial public offering is on the cards for the company
- “I’m not sure we want to be first but we certainly don’t want to be last either, so I expect we’ll be on the leading side of that, not the lagging side”, he said
- He also spoke about the firm’s ongoing discussions with US regulators about XRP
The leading figure at blockchain-powered cross border payments platform Ripple has hinted that the firm could list itself on the stock market in the months to come.
Brad Garlinghouse, who was speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland, said that an initial public offering – which sees firms list themselves on the stock market – could happen as early as this year.
He confirmed that an IPO at some stage was what the firm wanted and described it as a “natural evolution for the company”.
During the remarks, which were given in the Wall Street Journal lounge at an event which Ripple itself had sponsored, Garlinghouse said that the international money transfer business was keen not to be left behind.
“I think over the next 12 months you’re definitely going to see IPOs in the crypto, blockchain space”, he said.
“I’m not sure we want to be first but we certainly don’t want to be last either, so I expect we’ll be on the leading side of that, not the lagging side”, he added.
He went on to discuss another major issue for the firm – the way in which its cryptocurrency, known as XRP, ought to be regulated.
He revealed to those in attendance that the firm was discussing the matter with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a major regulator in the US – where Ripple is also based.
He said that he considered “educating regulators” to be a key part of his role as CEO.
“We have been talking to the SEC for some period of time”, he said.
“I feel like educating regulators is part of my job and I think that’s been a really constructive process”, he added.
The event reflected a landmark move for Ripple, which is believed to have never before reflected publicly on the regulatory status of its cryptocurrency – or whether or not it has plans for an IPO.
Ripple has arguably changed the face of the cross border payments world in many ways.
It offers two key services.
One is XRP, its scalable cryptocurrency, which powers the Ripple payment network used by banks and other financial services institutions.
It also offers a service known as on-demand liquidity (ODL) which permits financial institutions to avoid having to use capital to ensure there is enough liquidity to power the transaction.
A large number of organisations have signed up to use Ripple, and it has been given a valuation of around $10bn.
Ripple and other innovative firms in the remittances sector are working hard to come up with new solutions.
Follow their journeys by checking out and bookmarking our news page.
