Ripple’s general counsel is responding to speculation on the payments startup’s potential plans to leave the US.
In a discussion on Twitter, Stuart Alderoty explains why Ripple is examining a move overseas.
“We’re a proud US company but we don’t have a cohesive regulatory framework here. That keeps market participants guessing. Regulation consistently applied should yield predictable results.”
Alderoty also responds to comments from Compound general counsel Jake Cherinsky, who said he’s shocked that the company is taking a hard look at “fleeing” America.
“Jake, we’re not ‘fleeing’… Too many smart lawyers – like you – are left reading tea leaves.”
Ripple has cited the UK as a possible destination for the billion-dollar company, which is currently headquartered in San Francisco. The company, which owns more than half of the total supply of XRP, has pointed to what it perceives as regulatory clarity on the crypto asset from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
However, Chervinsky says he doesn’t think crypto regulations in the UK are really that clear, especially in light of recent actions taken by the agency against the trading of crypto derivatives.
“The FCA’s categories didn’t provide ‘clarity.’ They just banned crypto derivatives last week, a much more severe action that any taken in the US. The categories aren’t even accurate anymore, based on recent developments in the industry. ‘Regulatory clarity’ has become a meme.
Categorizing assets provides no ‘regulatory clarity’ if it’s unclear which assets fit into which category & what financial services are allowed across all categories. The SEC takes it very seriously as well, & both regulators’ guidance leaves them a lot of room to move around.”
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has cited a number of areas that the company may relocate to, including the UK, Singapore, Japan, Switzerland, and UAE.
Featured Image: Shutterstock/Mopic