Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is sharing his insights into what the payments firm’s future will look like if XRP is declared a security by the United States government.
On an episode of the Pomp Podcast with Anthony Pompliano, Garlinghouse says that while a portion of Ripple’s business in the US would need to change if regulators rule that the crypto asset is a security, much of the firm’s stateside business could operate as usual.
“A lot of what Ripple does today in the United States, we could continue to do, no problem. A component of what we do today is our customers of ODL (On-Demand Liquidity) they buy XRP from us. If [XRP], in fact, is a security, we would have to get a broker-dealer license. Anybody who’s buying and selling XRP in the United States would have to get a broker-dealer license.”
The head of the San Francisco startup has publicly discussed the possibility of the firm moving to friendlier regulatory jurisdictions, or at the least, regions in which the regulations surrounding cryptocurrencies are clearer. In his interview with Pompliano, Garlinghouse again talks about Ripple’s investigation into moving its business off-shore.
“The reality is what we’d probably do is just say, ‘Okay, in order to provide certainty and clarity on a going-forward basis we would want to look at other markets and other jurisdictions where there is that clarity.’ Earlier in this conversation, I highlighted the UK. I highlighted Japan. I highlighted Singapore.”
For now, however, Garlinghouse highlights whether or not XRP is ruled a security, the company’s business would not be significantly altered either way. He goes so far as to say it would be in the best interest of the US to keep the firm onshore.
“Frankly, most of our customers are non-US customers by a long shot today and so we could absolutely continue to build the business and grow. It’s just we would no longer be a US taxpayer where we paid probably order magnitude of a couple hundred million dollars in taxes here in the United States and I just think that it doesn’t serve the US agenda to drive us offshore.”
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