Ripple CEO Denies Rumors of Circle Acquisition Amid $1.1 Billion IPO Surge AllinCrypto June 5, 2025
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has addressed recent speculation that Ripple made a $5–6 billion offer to acquire stablecoin issuer Circle.
Reports claimed that Ripple and Coinbase were competing to acquire Circle, the issuer of USDC, as the company moves forward with its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.
Circle’s IPO has already surpassed expectations, raising $1.1 billion through the planned sale of 34 million shares at $31 each, a bigger IPO than was initially expected.
Brad Garlinghouse denounces rumours at XRP Las Vegas
At the XRP Las Vegas event, crypto journalist Chris Brummer reported that Garlinghouse firmly denied that Ripple had made any acquisition attempt. According to Garlinghouse, the company did not offer $5–10 billion and has no intention of pursuing a buyout of any kind.
Rumors circulated that Coinbase and Ripple were vying for a Circle acquisition. However, Garlinghouse further clarified that Ripple is focused on its own stablecoin, RLUSD, and its integration into Hidden Road for institutional uses.
Ripple’s $1.25B acquisition of prime brokerage firm Hidden Road has allowed the crypto firm to expand RLUSD’s use cases and strengthen ties with traditional financial investors.
RLUSD is expected to function as on-ledger collateral, integrated with the XRP Ledger through Hidden Road’s infrastructure.
Brummer reiterated Garlinghouse’s position: while he supports Circle’s progress, there are no plans for acquisition. One update from the event suggested Garlinghouse may have only denied a $10 billion offer specifically, leaving open the possibility that lower offers were floated. Despite this, the message was that Ripple has no plans to pursue Circle.
Circle also responded to acquisition rumors in late May, stating: “Circle is not for sale. Our long-term goals remain the same.” Circle plans to launch the Circle Payments Network later this year, a cross-border payments platform connecting banks to stablecoins.
Circle IPO momentum marks USDC a challenging rival for Ripple
The network may rival Ripple Payments with Circle’s platform, allowing for banks to use USDC in international payments, cutting waiting times down to seconds instead of days.
Circle’s IPO is set to launch imminently, with pricing exceeding expectations. The company, along with shareholders including CEO Jeremy Allaire, plans to sell 34 million shares at $31 each, according to a recent Bloomberg report.
This upsized offering is viewed as a sign that stablecoin firms are gaining mainstream investor confidence and attraction, with President Trump’s GENIUS Act for stablecoin frameworks set to pass in June.
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