Ripple set for growth after $50 million settlement with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) This agreement represents an inflection point for the company, allowing it to further invest in key strategic acquisitions and growth initiatives.
Ripple can now proceed toward the finalization of its acquisition of Hidden Road, a deal that’s worth $1.25 billion. Ripple claims that this kind of acquisition would have been unthinkable just a year ago. During all that time, the previous administration’s toxic regulatory environment stood as progress’s greatest obstacle.
As Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, has repeatedly expressed optimism for an improving regulatory climate in the U.S. Next, he expects stablecoin legislation to pass federally as well as some sort of market structure reform in the near future. These changes would help facilitate fair competition for promising U.S. companies like Ripple, Circle, and Tether.
“This allows even larger institutions like BlackRock, like the biggest Wall Street financial institutions, to come into this market in a way they understand with a safer prime broker to help clear transactions and a bigger balance sheet to do that. It’s good for the whole industry,” - Brad Garlinghouse
Ripple’s acquisition of Hidden Road is a clear demonstration of its strategic intent to shore up its competitive position in the market. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse underscored the significance of this change. He noted the transition that large asset managers are making from a “hostile” market to one that is more friendly, adopting regulations that encourage innovation.
“The largest asset managers in the world go from relatively frozen out or hostile to now a friendly market. This has sensible regulation that is thinking about pro-innovation here at home,” - Brad Garlinghouse
Garlinghouse went on to underscore what he sees as a role for cryptocurrency to act as an inflation hedge and response to global currency destabilization. Admitting that the crypto market would be volatile in the short term, he reiterated his belief in its value long-term.
“The long-term value here is going to be very clear. It (crypto) is a hedge against inflation. It is a dynamic where the more utility we drive in the crypto markets, the more we’re going to see value accrete to that market,” - Brad Garlinghouse
As expectations for XRP ETFs continue to grow, with at least half a dozen applications having been submitted stateside, none of these applications have been approved. Most recently, Teucrium brought the 2x Long Daily XRP ETF to market, the first leveraged ETF in the US based on XRP. The new product had a strong debut with $5m trading volume on day one. This extraordinary debut placed it in the top 5% of all new ETF launches. Analysts at JPMorgan and Standard Chartered have estimated that XRP ETFs would attract $8 billion in their first year. This anticipated influx depends on the company obtaining the necessary regulatory approval.
Ripple too is growing rapidly RT is expected to have about 1,100 employees. Garlinghouse believes that stablecoin legislation and market structure bills have gained traction on Capitol Hill, reflecting a broader shift towards embracing crypto innovation.
