Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse clarified that his crypto powerhouse never pursued the acquisition of major stablecoin issuer Circle. The statement, which was made during a Las Vegas event, comes after reports claimed that Ripple reportedly offered between $4 billion and $5 billion to purchase Circle. Garlinghouse Squashes Circle Acquisition Rumors Speaking to Georgetown Law professor Chris Brummer, Ripple asserted that the company was not exploring a potential acquisition of Circle. “Brad was unequivocal — Ripple never pursued an acquisition of Circle. And while he wished the company well, it wasn’t something he was considering,” Brummer revealed in a June 3 post on X , citing a discussion he had onstage at the Ripple Las Vegas conference “48 hours ago.” The session was not broadcast live. Bloomberg was the first to report that Ripple tried to purchase Circle, but the $4 billion to $5 billion bid was rejected as being too low. America’s leading crypto exchange, Coinbase, allegedly made a counterbid . Sources also told Fortune that Circle would sell to Coinbase “in a heartbeat” given their longstanding relationship. Founded in 2013, Circle is a major company in the crypto industry, known as the issuer of USDC, the industry’s second-largest stablecoin by market cap after Tether’s USDT. As ZyCrypto previously covered, the reports of Ripple’s potential takeover of Circle were met with a mixed reaction within the cryptosphere. Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson, for instance, suggested that the deal, if successful, could “make the space better.” Meanwhile, MetaLeX Labs founder Gabriel Shapiro speculated that it could lead to a “crypto apocalypse.” “Making Ripple the largest asset issuer on every blockchain would obviously be disastrous and anticompetitive,” Shapiro had explained at the time. According to a recent SEC filing , Circle is seeking a fully diluted valuation of up to $7.2 billion in its upcoming initial public offering (IPO). The company will sell up to 32 million shares priced between $27 and $28 each. Circle’s IPO is attracting significant interest from market participants, with the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, reportedly planning to purchase roughly 10% of the offering .
