Uphold is considering going public or selling the company after starting a bold campaign to attract US users who support XRP. The company plans to give XRP rewards for direct salary deposits and launch a debit card linked to its brand.
To help with these big decisions, Uphold has hired the investment bank FT Partners to look at both IPO and sale options to reach a more than $1.5 billion valuation.
Uphold hires FT Partners to explore IPO and sale options
Uphold CEO Simon McLoughlin said the company needs to choose between going public through a US stock market listing or selling the company to a larger financial institution like a bank, broker, or payments firm, so the board officially hired FT Partners to help.
The company’s decision stems from investor interest after Circle’s successful IPO and a noticeable shift in how traditional finance views digital asset companies.
McLoughlin said an IPO could give the company more visibility, help it raise money faster, and open doors to new international markets. He noted that Uphold has not yet made a final decision but wants to be ready to act if the market conditions remain favorable.
He said the company wants to move early and position itself well for offers or investor demand because traditional financial firms are showing serious interest in acquiring platforms. Going public might also allow Uphold to buy other smaller fintech or crypto firms.
Uphold expects to hit $300 million in revenue by 2025 after making around $80 million in 2022. The company believes strong growth data can support its target valuation of above $1.5 billion.
McLoughlin said this kind of growth (almost four times in three years) proves that Uphold is one of the rare crypto-native platforms with consistent progress. He notes that this comes during a tough time when many competitors are laying off staff or cutting services due to low trading activity and strict regulation.
He further explained that Uphold stands out in the XRP community for its loyalty, as it allowed users to keep trading and holding the token during the SEC lawsuit against Ripple in 2021. Many other companies quickly removed XRP to avoid trouble with regulators. He added that the trust gained from XRP users in the US and abroad will be useful when pitching to public investors or negotiating a sale.
Uphold launches US campaign to reward XRP users
Uphold has also launched a big rewards campaign to attract customers starting in Las Vegas because the city offers high visibility and access to a broad group of potential users, including gig workers, tech-savvy residents, and tourists.
Uphold wants to use this campaign to grow its user base by offering real crypto benefits and focusing on users who feel ignored by other exchanges. The reward is a 4% cashback in XRP for US users who will deposit at least $250 per month between June 2 and September 1, and aims to encourage people to make Uphold their main financial platform.
Rewarding salary deposits positions Uphold more like a traditional bank that gives loyalty perks and builds trust and long-term engagement because users will likely keep funds on the platform and explore its other services once they receive regular income.
The company also plans to launch a debit card that will link directly to users’ crypto balances (especially XRP) to make crypto more usable in everyday life, helping users pay for groceries and gas or even travel with funds from their Uphold wallet. Uphold believes this feature will make a big difference in winning over loyal XRP users because many crypto platforms have promised the same kind of real-world utility, but only a few have delivered successfully.
Moreover, Uphold plans to expand its staking rewards for XRP through the Flare Network with more options and better yields that allow users to earn passive income by locking their XRP in special smart contracts.
The company has also proven its ability to become a full-featured ecosystem for XRP believers because it will integrate RLUSD (a new stablecoin built on the XRP Ledger) to allow users to hold stable value while still interacting with XRP’s ecosystem.
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