Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse believes that the U.S. has fallen behind other countries in the crypto space due to regulatory uncertainty.
He compared the technology's potential to the internet, highlighting the U.S. decision to embrace it in the 1990s, even though its merits were relatively unknown at the time. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Garlinghouse argued that countries such as Australia, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Switzerland have implemented sweeping rules for the cryptocurrency industry, thereby encouraging investors and entrepreneurs to operate on their soil: “There’s a lot of countries that have taken their time and thoughtfulness to create that clear rules of the road.”
He recommends that the U.S. government, especially the SEC, do the same and stop the brain drain.
Citing the early days of the internet as an example, Garlinghouse credits the United States for putting in place the proper regulations in the late 1990s to make it the tech hub it is today: He believes that the best cryptocurrency regulatory framework should focus primarily on consumer protection. In the meantime, the SEC should stop acting like a “hammer” and treat everything as a “nail,” but realize that not all assets are securities.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler recently reiterated his view that “everything but Bitcoin” is a security. As such, he insisted that all crypto transactions, excluding those involving BTC, should be supervised and supervised by the agency. U.S. securities regulators sued Ripple in 2020, alleging that its executives illegally sold XRP tokens to investors without first registering them as securities. While the legal dispute remains unresolved, Garlinghouse believes its outcome will be "vital" for the industry as a whole. The CEO believes that the way regulators make rules through enforcement is incorrect. Instead, it should allow the technology to evolve while ensuring maximum safety for investors.
