Shortly after Coinbase banned political discussions among employees, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse expressed his disagreement with the new policy.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has reacted to a new policy by Coinbase that discourages employees from discussing political matters at work. Garlinghouse believes that fintech companies should participate in societal issues.
Ripple React to New Policy By Coinbase
The CEO of Coinbase Brian Armstrong had told employees that the company would not allow political discussions among employees. The new policy was announced in an email sent to employees in late September. In the email, the CEO said that political issues are not related to the tech company’s core mission. Also, Armstrong said that the company is “laser-focused” on digital assets and making profits.
According to a report by The Block, the crypto firm also provided exit packages to employees that may want to quit in reaction to the new policy.
On the 8th of October, Armstrong released another blog post, stating that some employees have decided to quit and accept the exit package. At that time, Armstrong declared that about 60 employees had decided to leave the company. Garlinghouse, however, disagrees with Coinbase’s new policy in an interview with CNBC. He believes that fintech companies should get involved in societal matters and aim at providing solutions where necessary. He added:
“We think about our mission as enabling an internet of value but we seek positive outcomes for society. I think tech companies have an opportunity – but actually an obligation – to lean into being part of the solution.”
In addition, a Ripple spokesperson said that Ripple supports activism and encourages employees to participate in politics. The company is encouraging its employees to vote and volunteer in the upcoming presidential election in the US by offering paid time-off.
Ripple CEO Says Tech Platforms Incite Societal Issues
Furthermore, Garlinghouse believes that tech platforms also incite some societal problems. He referred to the use of social media service platform Facebook to manipulate elections.
Speaking to CNBC, he said:
“The sad reality is – and I say this as a long-time veteran of Silicon Valley – some of these (societal) problems are, at a minimum, exacerbated by the tech platforms themselves.”
However, Facebook said the company had added more people to work on safety and security ahead of the US election on the 3rd of November.
Apart from the additional staff on the security team, Facebook has taken other steps to curb manipulation during elections. The company also said that it has “advanced operations to take down manipulation campaigns and identify emerging threats.”
In the interview, Garlinghouse told CNBC that Ripple had sued Google video-sharing platform YouTube. According to the CEO, Ripple is suing YouTube over cryptocurrency scams. He said scammers have been deceiving people to send thousands of dollars in XRP on YouTube. He stated that the video-sharing platform failed to protect its consumers.
Reinforcing that tech platforms also contribute to societal problems, Garlinghouse said that “platforms need to take ownership of the problems they are contributing to.”
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