Facing charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the CEO of Ripple fired back on Friday (April 30), saying that cryptocurrency regulations offer a “frustrating” lack of clarity. Brad Garlinghouse, whose company created the cryptocurrency XRP, made these comments in an interview with CNBC.
In December, the SEC charged Garlinghouse, a Ripple co-founder and the firm itself, saying they used an unregistered securities offering to raise more than $1.3 billion, essentially misleading investors. Ripple has countered that XRP is a medium of exchange, a virtual coin for domestic and international transactions, meaning the SEC doesn’t have the authority to treat it as a security.
Garlinghouse said the U.S. needs to provide clear regulatory rules for crypto, similar to the ones found in some Asian countries. “I give credit to markets like Singapore and even parts of Korea, where there really has been a thoughtful government-led effort to define and have clear regulatory frameworks around cryptocurrencies,” he said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Friday (April 30).
Garlinghouse said that Ripple’s tussle with the SEC is an example of where the country’s cryptocurrency rules are opaque. The SEC lists XRP as a security, while every other country has declared it a currency. “And so we’re now engaged in a court discussion,” he said. “So far, I feel good about how that’s been going, but it’s certainly frustrating.”
As PYMNTS reported on Thursday (April 29), Ripple could be going public soon, provided it can end its legal dispute with the SEC. In an earnings call this week, the head of Japan’s SBI group — Ripple’s biggest backer — said that Garlinghouse and the company’s Executive Chair and Co-Founder Chris Larsen are considering a public offering.
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