Ripple announces $200 million share buyback and optimism for 2022

Blockchain payments company Ripple has announced a $200 million Series C share buyback, a decision that will value the San Francisco-based tech company at a record high of $15 billion.

Back in December 2019, Ripple Raised $200M in Series C funding Raised a funding round with UK-based investment firm Tetragon Financial Group, along with SBI Holdings and Route 66 Ventures as lead investors.

However, in December 2020, the SEC release $1.3 Billion Financial Lawsuit Against Ripple Labs and Co-Founder Chris Larsen and CEO Brad Garlinghouse Alleging Parties Use Native Ripple Tokens act as a permissionless digital asset security.

Aiming to disassociate from Ripple in their high-profile and public lawsuit, Tetragon Sue Ripple in early January 2021 In Delaware Chancery Court, seeking contractual obligation to establish buyback terms for the value of its undisclosed investment amount.

However, just three months later, in April, a court ruled in favor of Ripple against plaintiff Tetragon, thus ending the financial dispute.

In choosing to voluntarily buy shares in Tetragon, SBI Holdings and Route 66 Ventures, it means Ripple is looking to bolster its financial strength, a sentiment Garlinghouse sidestepped in a recent tweet.

“Even with headwinds in 2021, it’s our best year on record,” he said, revealing that the company’s $1 billion bank balance makes it “our strongest year ever.”

RippleX – going full steam ahead in building multiple capabilities for the XRP ledger – NFTs, CBDCs, interoperability bridges, sidechains, and more – is working hand-in-hand with developers and partners around the world. It’s a multi-chain world after all 4/4

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) January 26, 2022

In addition to the buyback and valuation news, Garlinghouse is optimistic about the future of RippleNet and Ripple X, which aims to increase the utility of the XRP Ledger in a range of emerging areas, including non-fungible tokens, central bank digital currencies, and Interoperable multi-chain capabilities, etc.

When contacted by Ripple to get a clearer picture of their ambitions, a spokesperson said the decision to buy was due to their “very strong position in the market,” citing the company’s “cash flow positive” and “strong Balance” sheets. “

In addition to this, they also noted that Ripple had experienced “the best hiring year of 2021” and it is now looking to onboard “hundreds of global employees this year” to support its current 500 employees.