Ripple’s $5B Circle Rejection: Scandal, Scheming, and An Altcoin Soap Opera 🍾

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  • Ripple, with all the subtlety of a drunken Sloane at a Mayfair ball, allegedly sidled up to Circle, clutching an ‘offer’ of $4-5 billion (and not even a decent bouquet). 
  • XRP’s price perched above $2.1 – will it leap to $2.4, or simply trip over its own optimism? 

Ripple’s $5 billion overture for rival Circle was, according to the bards at Bloomberg, met with the same enthusiasm the English reserve for public transport: a baleful shake of the head and a muttered “insufficient.” Circle, apparently, felt the offer tad anemic – hardly enough for cab fare home, let alone a full-blown acquisition.

The distinguished Mathew Sigel, of VanEck fame and unruffled tie, put Circle’s true worth nearer $4 to $6 billion, which, much like the exchange rate at a dodgy Mallorca kiosk, depends heavily on who’s asking. Neither party has had the decency to confirm or deny—one would think they’re running for Parliament!

Circle’s own representative dismissed the offer as “market rumor”—which, in polite society, is what you say when you’re busy planning an IPO and don’t wish to be seen coquetting with masked suitors.

Circle’s dizzying stablecoin ambitions

Circle, once a humble stablecoin peddler, now watches its USDC grace the digital ballroom as the first runner-up behind Tether’s slightly tipsy USDT.

Come 2025, USDC pirouetted up from $43 billion to $62 billion—a 44% leap in under the time it typically takes for an Englishman to recover from Easter lunch.

Meanwhile, Tether, no stranger to the buffet, managed a mere 7.25% totter upwards. Analysts, those tireless gossips of the financial world, attribute USDC’s champagne-fueled rise to “regulatory compliance,” a term about as thrilling as a garden party in the drizzle.

USDC bows to both the E.U.’s MiCA regimen and new U.S. regs, which—not to be gauche—aren’t even law yet. 

As if not wanting to leave Ripple with any last shreds of dignity, Circle recently announced a cross-border payment scheme, much to the dismay of Ripple’s own entourage, who now spend their afternoons drafting indignant tweets.

So, is Ripple simply eliminating competition, or attempting to collect blockchain companies like well-heeled dowagers collect eccentric grandchildren? 

A particularly animated market watcher described it as a move for consolidation, touting USDC’s “moat” of regulatory legitimacy and lucrative partnerships—one imagines the moat is also filled with the tears of frustrated Ripple execs.

Crypto investor Varsan Aljarrah added, with the dramatic flourish of a minor poet: 

“Now they’re (Ripple) bidding to acquire Circle. Bit by bit, they’re locking in all the liquidity corridors, acquiring on/off ramps, and securing institutional rails. All roads lead to #XRP 🚗”

On the other side of the dance floor, Simon Dedic (from the City’s own Moonrock Capital) decried Ripple’s interest as “the ultimate example of fake it till you make it on steroids”—which, frankly, would have made an excellent motto for half of Mayfair. 

“Ripple trying to buy Circle is the ultimate example of ‘fake it till you make it’ on steroids.”

In the background, XRP has welcomed a blinding $1.25 billion in new capital—explaining its recent 40% leap from April’s trough. The altcoin, ever the eager social climber, continues to ride a short-term channel upward, possibly lunging for $2.4 if it doesn’t lose its nerve at the $2.1 support level. Farewell, sweet optimism if it slips below—hello, ignominy and the cold embrace of $2.

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2025-05-01 18:04