Ripple gears up for an IPO; Bullish for XRP price?

Following a string of courtroom victories Ripple has achieved in recent months against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), speculation on whether the company is planning to go public is increasing.

Indeed, various job openings on Ripple’s website hint toward the company’s preparations for an initial public offering (IPO), according to a recent video published by Lewis Jackson, a cryptocurrency pundit. Per Jackson’s analysis, the firm is currently going through the preparatory stages for going public.

While Ripple still maintains a focus on international growth, there has been an observable trend toward seeking US-based personnel, indicating a slight shift in strategy. The exact roles that are on offer on the company’s website – like the manager and director of corporate development – are crucial for the future development of a major public company.

Similarly, other positions that are currently available – such as the directors of international tax and financial risk directors – are also crucial for firms preparing for an IPO. Finally, Ripple is also seeking shareholder communication senior managers hinting toward the additional future need for managing investor relations.

The fact that Ripple is looking for most of these roles in multiple cities – mostly in the US and the UK – also signals that the firm is pursuing major global expansion.

Jackson also noted that Ripple has recently been focusing on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), specifically mentioning its buying of the Swiss cryptocurrency firm Metaco in May 2023. As noted by the pundit, extensive M&A is a common feature of businesses preparing to go public.

Ripple needs SEC approval before going public

Despite the numerous preparations hinting toward an IPO, it is important to note that Ripple would need to be cleared by the SEC before actually going public. This introduces a new hurdle and a new delay in its path forward as, at the time of publication, the legal battle between the company and the Commission is not over.

On the other hand, Ripple has achieved several major victories in the court case that dates back to late 2020. In July 2023, Judge Torres essentially ruled that XRP is, despite the SEC’s claims, not a security. Several months after the decision, the Commission dropped its charges against Ripple’s executives and is now seeking $770 million to settle the lawsuit.

It is also noteworthy that despite the ongoing court case, Ripple has continued its global expansion and revealed in August that there were 8 countries building central-bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on XRP. 

Additionally, in the last 24 hours alone, it announced both that the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) had approved XRP under its virtual assets regime, and that it had reached an agreement with Georgia on the pilot for the country’s digital currency.

How could an IPO affect the price of XRP

While many analysts have speculated that XRP might see a significant increase in value should Ripple go public, it is important to note that things are still highly uncertain. As detailed above, the first step would be to clear the legal issues with the SEC – which could, on and of its own, send XRP as high as $3.

Similarly, some have speculated that XRP might rise well above $5 should Ripple both win its case against the Commission and conduct an IPO. In addition, Ripple’s debut might itself be a major event considering its significant global presence and looking at the other major public cryptocurrency company, Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), which was valued at close to $100 billion on its debut day.

Similarly, we could catch a glimpse of what might occur by looking at XRP’s price following Judge Torres’ July ruling. In its immediate aftermath, the trading volume skyrocketed, and the price shot up from below $0.5 to above $0.8. It is noteworthy, however, that XRP declined sharply by mid-August and retracted its gains back to around $0.5.

Subsequent events and news didn’t have a similarly staggering effect on XRP, and it had only recently – close to the end of October – started experiencing an uptrend which saw it rise to $0.61 by the time of publication.

On the other hand, there is a chance that a definitive victory over the SEC, as well as a successful IPO, could indeed see XRP rise above $3 and maintain a higher price as they would be significantly more conclusive than July’s ruling.

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