John Deaton, a well-known voice in the XRP community and an attorney, has reignited speculation aroundRipple's IPO prospects, pointing to a potential $100 billion market cap as feasible in the current environment.
In a post about Circle's big public debut, Deaton said that while Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has played down the need to go public, the timing alone could be enough to change his mind.
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Circle's stock (CRCL) has shot up by over 600% since it went public on the NYSE earlier this month, which Deaton pointed out. The payments firm is now worth $66.2 billion - more than the total market value of the USDC stablecoin it issues ($61.3 billion). This is a really interesting situation where the value of the equity has gone up more quickly than the value of the product itself.
Thus, people are comparing it to Ripple now. Deaton says that if Circle can get that valuation,Ripple - with over 40 billion XRP and a current token price of about $2 - could realistically break the $100 billion barrier if it enters the public markets.
Ripple's XRP
To be clear, Ripple currently holds 36.2 billion XRP in escrow, which is worth over $78.8 billion at today's prices. That does not even take into account theXRP and Ripple enterprise blockchain infrastructure and global partnerships.
The company's last private valuation dropped to $11.3 billion earlier this year, but the market has clearly shifted since then, especially as XRP moves closer to being included in an ETF.
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Back in April, Ripple President Monica Long said the company does not have any plans for an IPO in 2025 and that they have a strong balance sheet after buying back shares. Garlinghouse also said that an IPO was "possible, but not a top priority."
But with market comps like Circle now setting a new bar and capital markets rewarding crypto-native firms with massive premiums, that stance might be tested sooner than expected.
