Ripple, the $10 billion cryptocurrency startup, is considering relocating to London over U.S. regulation

Ripple, the $10 billion crypto startup best known for its cryptocurrency XRP, is considering relocating its headquarters overseas due to frustration with the U.S. regulatory environment. In an interview with CNBC, Ripple‘s CEO Brad Garlinghouse also said that the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) doesn’t deem its XRP cryptocurrency a security.

Early this month, we wrote about FCA after the U.K. watchdog announced that it will introduce compliance oversight of crypto assets within the United Kingdom and a new ban on the sale of derivatives and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) that reference certain types of crypto assets to retail consumers effective January 6, 2021.

Due to a lack of regulatory clarity in the United States, Garlinghouse told CNBC that the company is considering relocating the company’s headquarters outside the United States. The company is considering many options for the company’s headquarters. In addition to the U.K., Garlinghouse said Switzerland, Singapore, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates were also under consideration for Ripple’s potential move abroad.

“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.

“The outcome of that was clarity that XRP is not a security and is used as a currency. With that clarity, it would be advantageous for Ripple to operate in the U.K.”

Founded in 2012 by Arthur Britto, Chris Larsen, and Ryan Fugger,  Ripple offers a global real-time payment system that enables banks and financial institutions around the world to directly transact with each other without the need for a central correspondent. The company also offers FX Market Making, a solution enabling enterprises to gain access to cross-currency liquidity through a distributed network that allows the foreign exchange to be externally sourced from a competitive FX marketplace or an internal FX trading desk.