By
Bena Ilyas
April 18th, 2024
Recently, Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, has commented on Facebook’s new cryptocurrency – Libra, saying that because of it, the crypto industry might become subject to stricter regulations.
In a recent interview with Fortune, Brad Garlinghouse commented on the recent Facebook‘s Libra stablecoin and the U.S. Congress hearing about it. He believes that because of Libra, cryptocurrencies, in general, might be put “into one big bucket”.
“You just want to make sure that you don’t get caught in the crossfire. It is important to me that when regulators start asking questions that they don’t lump us into one big bucket,” says Garlinghouse.
Although recently in June, Garlinghouse shared a rather more positive commentary towards Facebook’s new incentive. He said that thanks to it, Ripple saw a record number of signed contracts. He also said that the Libra announcement helped to legitimize cryptocurrency-based products.
“It has been a massive call to action. The banks realize that if Facebook is going to be a competitor in this space they can’t depend on a technology like SWIFT to compete in the marketplace,” Garlinghouse commented in June.
Now, after the Facebook hearing at U.S. Congress, Garlinghouse is starting to raise concerns. It might be because the officials asked loads of questions about KYC and AML procedures, and pointed out issues that might potentially affect the crypto industry as a whole. Also, it can be explained by the fact that the monetary guards are starting to realize that such new financial instruments could harm the US Dollar.
Garlinghouse believes that money laundering and the use of cryptocurrencies in any criminal activities should not be applied to the way Ripple uses XRP over its platforms. He explains that transfers over the Ripple network can be initiated only by already regulated financial institutions.
Brad Garlinghouse also went to comment on the recent Donald Trump tweet on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies saying that he was alarmed when he found out about this.
“It’s like saying I’m not a fan of Internet companies. There are lots of different types of Internet companies,” said Garlinghouse.
Currently, Ripple’s RippleNet, according to Ripple, is being used by more than 200 financial companies around the world, however, this doesn’t mean that all those companies are using XRP. Recently, in June, Ripple signed a $50 million deal with MoneyGram. They made a two-year partnership and MoneyGram will use XRP for cross-boarder payments. Ripple bought $50 million worth of MoneyGram shares. After the deal, MoneyGram shares more than doubled in price.