Aside from its run-ins with the SEC, Ripple (XRP) has applied to register as a digital asset service provider in the UK. We provide an update.
Ripple is interested in the UK
Ripple (XRP) recently made headlines by winning a battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), although the battle is not over. On the strength of this half-victory, the company has applied for registration as a digital asset service provider in the UK, according to a Ripple spokesperson.
In addition to this application to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), it has also been reported that the company is seeking a license in Ireland “as part of its massive regional investment”. However, the objectives and motivations behind these various steps were not reported.
Note that the UK is enjoying a certain popularity among cryptocurrency ecosystem players, in response to the persistent regulatory limbo in the US. And with good reason: the country was, for example, recently chosen by investment fund Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) for its first office outside the US territory, while last spring Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong met with local authorities to discuss regulation.
Meanwhile, Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO, didn’t mince his words this weekend towards the SEC, accusing it of having itself “created this mess by proclaiming that it was the cop of the crypto beat”.
An important topic has come up about protecting retail. The SEC created this mess by proclaiming it was the cop on the crypto beat when it had no legal jurisdiction Where’s that gotten us? Consumers left holding the bag in bankruptcy court while the SEC holds press conferences.
– Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) July 22, 2023
After rising vertically to $0.94 ten days ago, the price of XRP has since corrected slightly, and the asset is now trading at just under $0.70 at the time of writing, in 5th place among the largest crypto capitalizations
