DAVOS, Switzerland (`) — Ripple was exploring markets outside the U.S. for its initial public offering, CEO Brad Garlinghouse told CNBC, blaming a “hostile” regulator.
However, the company has put all plans for an IPO on hold for the time being, said Garlinghouse.
However, speaking to CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Garlinghouse said Ripple was “looking at other jurisdictions that have clear rules of the road” to go public.
Ripple's CEO said his company has not yet gone public in the US due to the SEC's actions.
“Trying to go public in the United States with a very hostile regulator that has approved your S-1 doesn't sound like much fun to me,” Garlinghouse said.
“Apparently Coinbase has had their S-1 approved. And now the SEC is suing them for doing things described in their S-1.”
An S-1 is a document filed with the SEC before an initial public offering in the United States that sets out information such as a company's financial performance and the principal risks of investing in the company.
Coinbase is listed in the USA. The SEC sued Coinbase last year, saying the company was trading as an unregistered broker and exchange.
Garlinghouse has been critical of the SEC's approach to regulating the crypto industry in recent years.
On Tuesday, he called SEC Chairman Gary Gensler a “political liability.” He said he expects there will be a new SEC chairman and his company can then consider a U.S. listing.
The SEC did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.
Ripple's CEO said he is keeping the “IPO option open” and will consider it “over time.”
“And we will evaluate it again as there are new regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission,” he said.
However, Garlinghouse made it clear that the IPO is now “not an immediate priority” for Ripple.
Reuters reported this month that Ripple had bought back shares from its shareholders. Garlinghouse confirmed this, saying the company has repurchased $1 billion worth of shares so far.
“You know, shareholder liquidity is important to me. We have investors who first invested in Ripple in 2012. So you've been involved in this deal for eleven and a half years. And that's why we want to provide that liquidity, which is one of the reasons we made these tender offers,” Garlinghouse said.
The buyback came after a successful year for cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is up more than 150% last year. This has restored trust among some crypto companies.
Circle, the company behind the stablecoin USDC, filed for an initial public offering in the US this month.
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