Earlier this Tuesday, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse clarified that the enterprise blockchain company was never pursuing the acquisition of USDC issuer Circle.
The statement, which was made at a Las Vegas event, comes after weeks of speculation about Circle's future.
In late April, Bloomberg reported that the crypto-focused fintech firm rejected a $5 billion offer from Ripple since it was considered to be too low.
Later, Fortune reported that Ripple and US exchange giant Coinbase were both having informal talks about acquiring Circle.
The company behind the second-largest stablecoin moved to shut down these rumors in late May, stating that it was not for sale.
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On Monday, Reuters reported that Circle is targeting a $7.2 billion valuation with its upcoming initial public offering (IPO).
Garlinghouse wished the company well ahead of the IPO while insisting that Ripple was not even considering acquiring it.
As reported by U.Today, the rumors of Ripple potentially buying Circle were met with a mixed reception within the XRP community. Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson, for instance, claimed that the rumored deal could be good for the industry. Meanwhile, MetaLeX Labs founder Gabriel Shapiro predicted that it could cause a "crypto apocalypse."
