Intermex, Ripple Partnership Dynamics Change

It must be a tough time for those who work at the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). The regulatory watchdog is continuously being criticized. And now it is Ripple director of regulatory relations Ryan Zagone’s turn.

Ripple has made a lot of progress recently. Thus the Singapore-based crypto exchange Bitrue announced that they will soon add Ripple trading pairs. Besides, Euro Exim Bank, a UK based financial institution, is planning to utilize xRapid and XRP.

Despite these advances, XRP is still facing regulatory issues in the U.S, as the SEC has not yet clarified how it classifies the token. As a result, U.S. banks and other financial institutions have not fully adopted XRP yet. At least that is what Zagone believes.

Speaking at Fintech Week in Washington, DC, he emphasized that regulators need to elucidate the rules. Only then will XRP be able to move forward. He noted:

“The challenge for adoption comes back to policy. The policy uncertainty around some of the assets has limited adoption, particularly here in the US.”

He went on to explain that Ripple and its token XRP offer seamless transactions which are “basically free.” He added that “it scales. And it’s efficient, with 1,500 transactions per second and nearly no energy burn. So we’re at a point today where there are real solutions to all of these challenges that already exist.”

The SEC has to step up its game

Thus Zagone stressed that there are real solutions to the current challenges which include, for example, time-consuming international transactions. To address these challenges the American watchdogs need to finally show mercy to XRP. Specifically, by establishing that it is not a security — an assertion which has been recently made by a former SEC’s employee. The SEC, however, has so far solely declassified solely ETH and BTC as securities.
Zagone reaffirmed that these tokens indeed enjoy policy certainty. Even though “those are China-controlled platforms” — a curious statement given the recent fears about China’s dominance on the market. So now American regulators need to cut to the chase and secure certainty in all places. He said:

 

“And one place I’m speaking directly for me here is XRP, where it looks like Bitcoin. It’s decentralized. It’s open-source. We have a small 7% of the validation power on that. Rather small on there.”

Zagone made sure to stress that he is not anti-Bitcoin or anti-Ethereum and that these tokens have great potential. However, Ripple propounds that it is necessary “to have a level playing field so the market can pick which ones they want to use.”

The SEC is indeed facing a lot of pressure lately. While the crypto business is continuously growing and big players like Bakkt are entering the market, the authority and its satellites are failing to clarify regulatory rules. This creates a lot of uncertainty and has prompted some to accuse the Commission of conspiracy. Especially, since it continuously delays its decisions on BTC ETFs. The verdict regarding the VanEck/SolidX ETF, for instance, is expected in February.

1 COMMENT

  1. Great article! We do need clarity as American investors in future technologies and the currencies the globe will use to establish new innovative solutions.

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