Crypto Firm Ripple Explores IPO Outside of U.S.

Ripple explored markets outside the U.S. for its initial public offering, said CEO Brad Garlinghouse, blaming a "hostile" regulator.

However, the firm has put any plans for an IPO on hold for now, Garlinghouse said.

Garlinghouse said in 2022 that Ripple, the company behind the cryptocurrency XRP, will explore a public listing after its lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ends. The lawsuit, which began in 2020, is still ongoing.

However, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Garlinghouse said Ripple has "looked at other jurisdictions that have clear rules of the road," to go public.

The Ripple CEO said his company has not gone public in the U.S. yet because of the SEC's actions.

"In the United States, trying to go public with a very hostile regulator that's approved your S-1, that doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me," Garlinghouse said.

An S-1 is a document that is filed with the SEC ahead of an IPO in the U.S. and lays out information such as a company's financial performance and the key risks of investing in the firm.

Garlinghouse has been critical over the past few years to the SEC’s approach to regulating the crypto industry.

On Tuesday, he called the SEC Chair Gary Gensler a "political liability." He said he thinks there will be a new chair of the SEC and then his company could consider a U.S. listing.

The Ripple CEO said he is keeping the IPO "option open" and will evaluate it "as time continues."

"And we’ll evaluate again, as we have new regulators sitting at the United States SEC," he said.

Garlinghouse made clear, however, that going public is now "not an immediate term priority" for Ripple.

(Source: CNBC)