SEC Who? Ripple Spits Fire, Buys Back $285M In Shares After Legal Win

Ripple Labs XRP/USD is set to repurchase $285 million of its shares from early investors and employees, reflecting the company's robust financial standing and strategic growth plans.

What Happened: The tender offer, which essentially values Ripple Labs at a substantial $11.3 billion, allows investors to sell a maximum of 6% of their holdings, Reuters reported Wednesday. 

Ripple Labs also revealed its intention to allocate an additional $500 million to cover the costs associated with converting restricted stock units into shares and related tax expenses.

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, reportedly said the company possesses over $1 billion in cash and more than $25 billion in crypto assets, predominantly XRP coins.

Ripple Labs plans to conduct further share buybacks regularly to offer liquidity to investors, he said. The company does not foresee a public listing in the U.S. shortly due to ongoing regulatory uncertainties.

Why It's Important: Ripple's decision follows a notable victory in its protracted legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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A U.S. District Judge ruled in July the sale of XRP on public exchanges does not constitute unregistered securities offerings.

This legal win marks a significant milestone for Ripple.

Founded in 2012, Ripple Labs has been at the forefront of developing a payment system that supports cross-border transactions while advocating for the use of XRP.

The company acquired Switzerland-based crypto custody firm Metaco for $250 million in May of last year.

Garlinghouse highlighted the company's resilience and growth despite the challenges posed by the SEC lawsuit, noting that 95% of Ripple's customers are non-U.S. financial institutions.

He did not disclose the specifics of the payment business' size.

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