Ripple’s chief executive officer Brad Garlinghouse has made a revelation that may be surprising to some people. In a recent statement credited to the chief executive, he revealed that only 5% of its customers are based in the U.S, which means a majority of the company’s customers are from other countries.
Regulatory uncertainty on the U.S. towards Ripple has affected the company’s relationship with customers in the country. Most potential customers are holding off to invest in Ripple due to the platform’s regulatory challenges.
Ripple plans to relocate its headquarters
Ripple announced recently that it is planning to move its headquarters out of the U.S. due to the regulatory bottlenecks the firm is facing. Asia is providing a safe landing for Ripple, and the region could be its most likely destination.
In an interview yesterday, Garlinghouse made the revelation about the tiny fraction of its customers who are based in the U.S. The fact that only 5% of its customers are in the U.S. could also be a strong point for the firm to reconsider relocating.
Garlinghouse was interviewed by CNN anchor Julia Chatterley, as they talked about the regulatory issues the firm has faced in the U.S.
According to him, about 95% of customers of the San Francisco-based company are located elsewhere. “95% of our customers are non-U.S. customers, and only about 5% are here in the U.S,” he pointed out when asked about the popularity of Ripple in the U.S.
He further reiterated that the popularity of Ripple’s services in the U.S. is quite low compared to its popularity in other regions, even though Ripple is a U.S.-based firm. Garlinghouse blamed the regulatory uncertainty with its associate token XRP as the cause.
Customers having issues with XRP due to regulatory issues
Garlinghouse further stated that the company is not able to convince U.S. customers to invest because of the regulatory issues surrounding its digital assets. People want clarification to know their investments are safe, but the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) isn’t ready to provide that clarification, he reiterated.
He further noted that some years ago, the SEC classified other major cryptos like Ether (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) as non-securities. But the third-largest crypto by market capitalization doesn’t have any clarity yet. And that clarity is what its potential U.S. customers are waiting for, he said.
Garlinghouse said more than 100 companies are making use of XRP as a currency. Even the FinCEN and U.S. Department of Justice has referred to XRP as currency, but the Sec has failed to give it such clarity.
Even customers have had issues with Ripple concerning its regulatory status, with many of them losing interest in continuing their investments with the company, he reiterated.
Garlinghouse stated that Ripple shouldn’t be treated differently from it’s treating other top cryptocurrencies like Ether and Bitcoin. He also thinks XRP should not be treated as security since no globally recognized market classifies XRP as such.
