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In a very strong chance of likelihood, Ripple could shift its headquarters to Japan or Singapore if it decides to leave the US, where it is presently stationed. CEO Brad Garlinghouse has made it clear that if the organization decides to shift it could also consider other destinations such as the UK and the UAE.
The head of the organization believes that the US presents a very ambiguous picture of the regulation of the sector per se. Moving to these countries as chosen by the organization is because they have a lucid regulatory framework and structure making it easy to conduct business.
A few days ago, the Executive Chairman of Ripple, Chris Larsen threatened that Ripple might leave the US if the country doesn’t do something about its cryptocurrency regulations. Speaking at the LA Blockchain Summit on October 6th, he said that they will be moving to the UK or Singapore. He went on to call the country’s stance towards cryptocurrency hostile, especially
the SEC. Ripple is right now engulfed in legal troubles with the SEC and investors over the security status of its digital currency XRP. Ripple at present manages a large amount of XRP but the company believes that it is far more decentralized as compared to its rivals Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The US believes otherwise because it still is understanding the nuances of it all and undecided on whether to treat cryptocurrencies as a commodity, currency, property, or security as per Garlinghouse.
Ripple already has a flourishing practice and presence in Japan through its partner SBI which is one of the biggest financial groups in the country. The two organizations have formed a Joint Venture called SBI Ripple Asia in order to provide blockchain-based payment solutions to financial institutions in the region. The CEO said:
“Japan is one of our fastest-growing markets, in part because we have key partners like SBI. I have spoken to the SBI team about the fact we are looking at” the country as a potential new location.”
Larsen added that many other countries are doing exceedingly well at understanding and handling crypto compared to the US. He said that a Joe Biden administration will salvage the crypto prospects but the difficulties arise because the current administration is seemingly hostile towards China which has more than 65% of miners.
He said that Ripple’s operation will not be extracted from the US but he believes that having a different regulator from a different country will do a world of good to them. In separate news, the US government issued guidance in September on how stablecoins are to be treated. They stressed that the national banks and federal savings associations can withhold reserves for customers issuing stablecoins.
Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks said that the institutions are putting in work every day with the transactions of Stablecoins amounting to billions of dollars. Such opinions will go a long way in shaping up regulations as well as leading a regulatory certainty to allow institutions to provide such services.