Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse doubled down on his frustration surrounding the lack of clarity and certainty in United States regulation of crypto assets when commenting on the chances of an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) coming to the U.S. stock market.
Will XRP Get An ETF In The United States?
After more than eight years of lobbying by the crypto industry, the SEC has finally given the go-ahead for bitcoin futures ETFs in the U.S. Assuming all goes well, ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF will become the first ETF based on Bitcoin futures to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Anticipation of the long-awaited bitcoin-related ETF sent the benchmark cryptocurrency to near lifetime highs.
So, what’s next?
Pundits expect more bitcoin futures ETFs to launch in the near future to compete with ProShares. Moreover, the U.S. SEC looks more likely to approve an ETF pegged directly to the price of bitcoin sooner or later. And it’s only a matter of time until we see ETFs for other top cryptocurrencies like Ether.
The question on every XRP enthusiast’s mind is: Will the SEC approve an XRP-based ETF?
Speaking to Fox Business on October 18, Garlinghouse observed that the SEC is intentionally picking winners and losers. He further noted that bitcoin has a huge power usage. As such, giving bitcoin a priority does not align with the climate agenda of the SEC Chair Gary Gensler. Garlinghouse, who has long been a critic of bitcoin’s energy use, stated that XRP is over 100,000 times more energy-efficient than Bitcoin.
According to the Ripple chief executive, it’s quite “ironic” how the U.S. SEC strives for clarity and discovery but fails to do the same when it comes to its own deeds. “What we seek more than anything is clarity and certainty,” he added.
Garlinghouse went on to posit that the agency has stayed mum about the regulatory status of the world’s second-biggest crypto by market cap after Bitcoin, Ethereum. Notably, the financial agency is sitting on a backlog of several Ether ETF applications yet to be approved.
SEC Lawsuit: Ripple Won’t Settle
As you are well aware, Ripple is caught in a high-stake legal scuffle with the SEC. When asked if there is a possibility of Ripple settling, Garlinghouse indicated that there’s no way they were taking that direction if the price is the XRP token being declared a security.
“There is no scenario though when we gonna settle unless there is absolute certainty about what XRP is on the go-forward basis.”
If the SEC eventually deems XRP a Security, then Ripple will have no choice but to leave the United States.