Blockchain payments firm Ripple has reportedly bid up to $5 billion in an effort to acquire stablecoin issuer Circle, but the offer was rejected.
According to an April 30 Bloomberg report, Ripple put in a bid of $4 billion to $5 billion as part of an attempted takeover of Circle, which was rejected as being too low. Ripple hasn’t considered whether to make another bid to purchase the stablecoin issuer.
The reported acquisition attempt came less than 30 days after Circle applied for an initial public offering (IPO) in the US. Cointelegraph reached out to representatives of Circle and Ripple for comment, but had not received a response from either at the time of publication.
Related: Ripple acquisition of Hidden Road a ‘defining moment’ for XRPL — Ripple CTO
Ripple reportedly had an $11 billion valuation in 2024, an estimate CEO Brad Garlinghouse called “outdated” as of January. The blockchain company purchased prime broker Hidden Road for roughly $1.2 billion in April, claiming the move would help scale activity for XRP and XRP Ledger.
Court cases winding down
It’s unclear whether Ripple intends to pursue the Circle acquisition as the firm begins to clear some of its legal entanglements with US regulators.
In August 2024, a court found Ripple liable for $125 million in a case with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) first filed in 2020. However, Garlinghouse announced in March that the SEC planned to drop its appeal against the firm over the ruling, with Ripple later stating it would pay a net $50 million for the lower court judgment.
Both announcements followed meetings between Garlinghouse and Ripple’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, and US President Donald Trump. The blockchain firm contributed $5 million to Trump’s inauguration fund after his election victory, and both executives attended events as official guests on Jan. 20.
Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple and industry with no crypto legal precedent set
