Ripple CEO Accuses U.S. Regulators of Favoring Chinese Technologies

Ripple’s dissent with regulators continues to grow further as CEO Brad Garlinghouse makes a fresh attack. In a series of tweets, Garlinhouse accused the regulators of the lack of clarity in crypto rules. He noted that this is like giving Chinese technologies a free pass over U.S. companies.

Citing last week’s report by the Justice Department (DOJ), Garlinghouse notes that 8 separate regulatory bodies in the U.S. have a separate view on crypto. Each of these eight bodies has a different definition for crypto: virtual currency, security, property, commodity, etc.

Garlinghouse notes that this guessing game is quite infuriating and frustrating for U.S.-based crypto companies. Different crypto regulations in different states of the U.S. has been a major roadblock for the country’s crypto community to grow and scale their business.

The Ripple CEO’s remarks come at a time when the company is considering shifting its base out of the U.S. Ripple has been having a tough time dealing with the regulators. A marathon of lawsuits from different U.S. jurisdictions – over XRP’s ‘security’ status – has made matters worst. Garlinghouse said:

“Ripple is a proud US-based company. Ripple abides by and supports critical laws – like strong BSA/AML controls – that keep bad actors out and consumers safe. We are NOT looking to evade US regulation.”

Current Regulatory Framework Hampering Innovation Says Garlinhouse

Brad Garlinghouse goes on to add that the U.S. regulatory approach hasn’t created a level-playing-field for local companies. “The lack of a single national regulatory framework is putting US innovation and US companies at a significant disadvantage,” he said.

The lack of a single national regulatory framework is putting US innovation and US companies at a significant disadvantage. All we’re asking for is a level playing field – if we need to move to another country to get that, then that’s the path we will have to take. (5/5)

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) October 12, 2020

Speaking at the LA Blockchain Summit last week, Ripple’s Executive Chairman Chris Larsen already hinted about the company’s plans of moving to crypto-friendly regulations like Singapore, Japan, the U.K, and Switzerland.

It’s not just Ripple that is at odds with the U.S. regulators. Giant corporations like Facebook have also been having a tough time dealing with the U.S. SEC in the past. Facebook had to significantly scale down its Libra cryptocurrency plans to meet the regulators’ demands.

Currently, digital currencies seem to be a game-changing platform that sets the tone for financial dominance over the next few decades. China is clearly seeing an opportunity here and has accelerated the development of its Digital Yuan. The European Union has also laid the groundwork for Digital Euro.

It is imperative for the U.S. regulators to take some bold measures and allow private players to be a part of this digital revolution.