Japanese financial benefactor SBI Holdings’ CEO Yoshitaka Kitao recently confirmed that Japan was the most likely place where Ripple would relocate to if it leaves the US.
Kitao stated in a press conference on October 28 that Japan had become the “most promising” candidate for Ripple’s new headquarters.
Ripple, an American fintech and parent of the XRP cryptocurrency, is reportedly not satisfied with the regulations in the US. Consequently, it has threatened to move out of the country if the situation persists. SBI Holdings is an investor for Ripple, and Kitao himself sits on the board of directors for the company.
Both Ripple frontmen, founder Chris Larsen and CEO Brad Garlinghouse, had expressed their frustrations on the apparent lack of clarity in US regulations.
Larsen went ahead and said that the US had a “regulation by enforcement” policy, and were “woefully behind” on laying the groundwork for a futuristic crypto-based financial system.
Garlinghouse has praised SBI Holdings for supporting Ripple. He is on record declaring Japan one of their fastest-growing markets. He also spoke out against the legislation banning crypto-trading in India, proving the company’s need for quality regulation.
Moreover, a lot of SBI Holdings’ key investments function using machinery developed by Ripple. A recent example is the Japanese payments app MoneyTap, which is owned in part by SBI Holdings. MoneyTap mitigates a significant number of transactions using RippleNet, a proprietary network developed by Ripple.
Therefore, after mulling over a plethora of relocation choices – UK, Singapore, Switzerland, etc. – Ripple’s prime candidate seems to be Japan.
