Ripple’s strong partner and Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings wants them to relocate to Japan as the blockchain startup faces major regulatory hurdles in the U.S.
By Bhushan Akolkar
Updated
2 mins read
The San Francisco-based blockchain startup Ripple has recently hinted at moving out of the U.S. citing regulatory troubles. The top bosses at Ripple have expressed their frustration over the lack of regulatory clarity in the U.S. Ripple’s strong ally in Asia and Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings wants Ripple to establish its new headquarters in Japan.
SBI Holdings CEO Yoshitaka Kitao also said that Japan will be an ideal place for Ripple to relocate itself. Japan is one of the biggest markets where Ripple has a stronghold currently.
In fact, Ripple has also mentioned Japan as one of the possible places for relocating. Some of the other crypto-friendly jurisdictions that Ripple is considering is London, Switzerland, and Singapore. During a press briefing on Wednesday, October 28, Kitao stated that Ripple “has made Japan the most promising candidate” for its new headquarters.
Last week, a Bloomberg report suggested that Ripple has shortlisted Japan and Singapore and its new HQ. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that he has already spoken to Ripple about this matter. “Japan is one of our fastest-growing markets, in part because we have key partners like SBI,” stated Garlinghouse.
As Ripple works on clearing its regulatory hurdles, it also continues to make investments in other subsidiaries. Earlier this week, Ripple made a fresh investment in the blockchain-based money-transfer app MoneyTap. The investment comes as part of Ripple’s efforts to drive further adoption and development of its RippleNet blockchain network in the Southeast Asian market.
“Through this latest investment by Ripple, Money Tap will further strengthen its partnership with Ripple and accelerate the development of new functions and new services including a small-amount collection service and corporate payment function,” said Ripple.
On the other hand, Ripple continues with more investments in remittance firm MoneyGram. As per MoneyGram’s financial statements of Q3 2020, Ripple invested $9.3 million during this period. Over the last year, Ripple has been heavily investing in the remittance firm. In November 2019, Ripple invested a massive $50 million in MoneyGram.
Blockchain startup Ripple continues to expand its footprint in the global payments market. While offering multiple blockchain-based solutions, Ripple has, however, struggled with the utility of its XRP tokens.
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Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.
