Ripple CEO urges US Regulators to embrace Crypto

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO Ripple has encouraged the US regulator “to step up and lean into digital currencies” to avoid lagging behind China in the sector.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse urges U.S. regulators to embrace cryptocurrency or risk losing financial dominance to China https://t.co/zaGZr90lYD

— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) May 27, 2020

Garlinghouse tweeted that “remaining complacent is actually setting us back,” referring to an article that suggests that China’s long-awaited central bank digital currency (CBDC) has the capability to replace the dollar as the global reserve currency.

U.S. financial dominance across the globe is based on both the dollar’s position as the global reserve currency and of its control of the Society for Worldwide International Financial Transactions or SWIFT system.

This makes it convenient to exchange messages between global commercial banks regarding payment orders and acts as an intermediary for the majority of cross-border payments. Management of this system gives the U.S. substantial leverage to applying financial sanctions.

Cross-border exchange of digital currencies do not need the SWIFT system, nor rely on the U.S. dollar.

China’s digital yuan is currently being tested in a number of regions across the country. The U.S. is already years behind China in terms of digital currency, but according to Garlinghouse, a stronger regulatory framework toward public digital assets like XRP can assist in making up for lost ground.

Although a Chinese CBDC would be completely outside U.S. control, Garlinghouse emphasized that XRP is not free from U.S. financial oversight.