Ripple Considers Relocating Out Of US Due To Unfriendly Cryptocurrency Regulations

Ripple Labs Inc, the Silicon Valley company behind the namesake payment protocol and cryptocurrency XRP (XRP), might move out of the U.S. due to limited guidelines in the digital assets space.

Co-founder Chris Larsen opened up speculations with his comment, “ we’re even looking at relocating our headquarters to a much more friendly jurisdiction”, according to Cointelegraph.

In Tuesday’s LA Blockchain Summit, Larsen expressed his displeasure by saying that the U.S. is “woefully behind” in the virtual currency domain and the “regulation through enforcement” policy is detrimental to the industry.

What Happened: As a last resort, Ripple could move to countries in Europe or Asia, which have less stringent cryptocurrency regulations. The United Kingdom, Switzerland, Japan, and Singapore are some of the names that popped up on Larsen’s list, according to Cointelegraph.

Ripple co-founder also lambasted the federal government for sidestepping, while China is leading blockchain innovations with its Digital Yuan, CoinDesk noted.

Why Does It Matter: Ripple is waging an uphill battle against regulators, all the while dealing with a lack of regulatory clarity. It is facing lawsuits from investors, who allege that the XRP token is an unregistered security, while the authorities are still pondering an optimal treatment for the token. According to Fortune, only Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) are the two cryptocurrencies to enjoy a special exemption status from the U.S. securities law due to their decentralized nature. 

Facebook Inc’s FB cryptocurrency Libra has also been facing one setback after another. Early members in the Libra project, like PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL, Mastercard Inc MA, and Visa Inc V backed out last year fearing regulatory pressures.

Photo by March Verch on Flickr