Ripple Mulls Moving Headquarters Abroad

Ripple is mulling moving its headquarters abroad because of frustration with the regulatory climate in the United States. The FinTech company is most renowned for its XRP digital currency, CNBC reported.

Brad Garlinghouse, the company’s CEO, says he went to London in September and told the outlet that the Financial Conduct Authority does not consider XRP to be a security. He noted that other regions have given similar affirmations.

“What you see in the U.K. is a clear taxonomy, and the U.K.’s FCA took a leadership role in characterizing how we should think about these different assets and their use cases,” Garlinghouse said.

A “security” designation could put XRP under stringent new regulations.

Aside from Britain, Garlinghouse also indicated that Singapore, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and Japan were also in the running for the FinTech’s possible international relocation.

The news comes as Chris Larsen, the executive chairman of Ripple, has raised the potential that his firm might depart the U.S. if the nation’s digital currency rules aren’t revamped.

Larsen said at the LA Blockchain Summit in early October that he is mulling moving to Britain or Singapore.

Ripple is currently in the midst of legal trouble with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and investors over the security status of the XRP cryptocurrency.

Ripple supervises a sizable amount of XRP, but the firm says its network is decentralized like competitors ethereum or bitcoin.

In early October, Ripple unveiled a Line of Credit beta offering that it says allows FinTech clients to harness the XRP cryptocurrency to send international payments. At the time, it was noted that the service is not yet available to individuals.

“With a line of credit from Ripple, your financial institution can use XRP to complete instant, low-cost cross-border transfers,” the firm said in its announcement. “We allow you to lock in a rate at the time of the payment, then repay us when it’s convenient for you, for a small fee.”