A senior executive at Ripple, one of the country’s top crypto firms, warned on Tuesday that the company is close to moving its headquarters abroad in response to excessive regulation.
Chief Executive Officer Chris Larsen said that San Francisco-based Ripple has grown increasingly frustrated by what it perceives as a hostile attitude toward the cryptocurrency industry on the part of the federal government and, in particular, the Commission of Values. and values.
While Ripple owns a large amount of XRP, the company maintains that the network that oversees the XRP transaction is decentralized like Bitcoin or Ethereum, two rival cryptocurrencies that the SEC has concluded are not centrally controlled and are therefore exempt. . . of securities laws.
Larsen made the comment on Ripple’s relocation during a virtual interview with Fortune at the LA Blockchain Summit. He added that almost every other country offers a more crypto-friendly regulatory climate than the US, but named the UK and Singapore as the most likely destinations if Ripple leaves the US.
Larsen also acknowledged that moving Ripple’s headquarters would not end US jurisdiction over many of its operations, but said it would be a relief to have another country as Ripple’s main regulator.
The fight between Ripple and US regulators echoes a similar one taking place over Libra, the digital currency proposed by Facebook, which has been repeatedly delayed as a result of political and regulatory skepticism.
The disputes come amid a broader debate about the role of central banks and digital currencies. Some critics, including Larsen, warn that the United States risks handing over financial innovation to China, which is about to launch a digital version of the yuan. They fear that the United States will not only be left behind in blockchain technology (the digital ledger that underlies currencies like Bitcoin), but will see the US dollar lose their status as a world reserve.
The debate also comes as companies like MasterCard are implementing software that allows central banks to test digital currencies in controlled payment environments.
In his comments on the US government’s attitude towards digital currency, Larsen noted that his alleged hostility given the Trump Administration’s tough stance on China, a stance that Larsen claims is correct. Regarding the increasingly likely possibility of a Joe Biden-led Democratic administration, Larsen expressed cautious optimism that it could create a more favorable regulatory climate.
Larsen predicted that a Biden White House would change the cryptocurrency industry by imposing carbon taxes on its energy-intensive mining operations, possibly helping to repatriate some of the mining activity from abroad. He noted that Chinese miners currently control 65% of cryptocurrency production and that miners are subject to the dictatorial control of the Chinese Communist Party.
