By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has said he is frustrated with the lack of clarity in US regulation of cryptocurrencies, in an interview with CNBC.
“I have called for the need for increased clarity and certainty about how the regulatory framework is going to work,” Garlinghouse said in a recorded interview.
SEC Investigation
Garlinghouse’s frustrations appear to stem from the charges brought against Ripple last year by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC charged Ripple, best known for the XRP cryptocurrency, with conducting an unregistered securities offering.
The SEC alleges XRP is a security and so would fall under separate regulation to cryptocurrencies. Garlinghouse said XRP is a currency and so therefore does not have to be registered as an investment contract.
Potential IPO
The comments from the Ripple CEO come just a day after reports that the company is considering an IPO soon, if they succeed in their legal case against the SEC.
Speaking on SBI Group’s earnings call, CEO Yoshitaka Kitao said that should Ripple prevail in its case against the SEC, the company plans on going public.
“After the current lawsuit, Ripple will go public. The current CEO wants to do that,” Kitao said.
Japan’s SBI Group is one of the major shareholders in Ripple.
At 13:30BST, XRP was trading above $1.63, higher by over 15.5% in the last 24 hours.