DAVOS, Switzerland — Ripple will explore the possibility of an initial public offering once its lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has ended, CEO Brad Garlinghouse told CNBC.

Uses XRPCross-border payments can be made using XRP (the sixth-largest cryptocurrency worldwide). In other words, fiat is converted into XRP. This lowers transaction cost and speeds up the process. The XRP can then be converted to fiat.

The SEC claims that Ripple and Garlinghouse, as well as Chris Larsen, the executive chairman of Ripple have engaged in illegal securities offerings through the sale of XRP. Ripple argued the digital currency should not be considered a security. This would make it subject to more stringent regulatory oversight.

Fast 15 months have passed since the lawsuit began. Ripple expects it to end this year. The company then will investigate a public listing.

With the U.S. SEC, I think there is a need for clarity and certainty in America. Garlinghouse spoke to CNBC on the World Economic Forum at Davos.

We are certain that this possibility exists, but you should know. We’ll be looking at it once we get over the lawsuit with SEC.”

Garlinghouse’s remarks come in the context of a crypto price crash, which has decimated billions of dollar worth of market value. According to CoinGecko, XRP has fallen 42% over the past 30 days.

Stocks related to crypto-related companies have been also hammered. Coinbase stock is down 75%, and Robinhood’s stock has fallen nearly 50%. Robinhood offers digital currency trading.

Garlinghouse stated that the company is still growing. According to Garlinghouse, the volume of cross-border payments products that use XRP (known as On-Demand liquidity) grew by $8 billion last quarter compared with $1 billion during the same time last year.

“Our growth almost entirely takes place outside of the United States. Garlinghouse indicated that he believes this will continue until there is clarity and certainty about the U.S.