After a partial court victory against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), fintech company Ripple has announced plans to enter the UK and Ireland market.
According to Ripple Europe CEO Sandy Young, the company recently filed a crypto company registration application with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and a payment institution license application in Ireland, DL News reports.
Ripple has developed a payment protocol of the same name that is used by government institutions in Australia, Canada, and Israel. The XRP token acts as a bridge to provide liquidity in international transfers, making them faster and cheaper compared to traditional services. As of 15:30 GMT on July 21, the cryptocurrency ranks fourth in the ranking with a market capitalization of $40.77 billion and is trading on Binance at $0.7762 (-4.67% in the last 24 hours).
The native XRP token has surged by roughly 60% in the week following the July 13 US court decision that coins sold to retail investors via digital exchanges are not considered securities.
Young called this decision a “big victory” that will have a positive impact on the company’s growth in the United States. However, the development and growth strategy remains the same:
“We are in the process of filing UK registrations and obtaining a license in Ireland. These are large-scale investments with the expectation that we will continue to experience exponential growth in this region.”
According to Young, Ripple continues to increase its staff and hire employees for positions of responsibility. In the last 18 months, the number of employees in the UK and Europe has increased by approximately 75%, and today more than 100 of the company’s approximately 900 global employees work in offices in London, Dublin and Reykjavik.
“I am very pleased to see the development dynamic… The UK is starting to deliver on its promises in trying to become an investment hub for the crypto space.”
Commenting on the court process and the SEC’s allegations, Young said that the company has always considered enforcement actions not a very productive and useful approach to foster innovation or attract investment. In his opinion, other jurisdictions, including the UK and the EU, see the uncertainty in US market regulation as an opportunity to move forward and capture their market share.
In May, before the decision on the SEC case was issued, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse advised entrepreneurs against starting crypto businesses in the United States, as the country had lagged behind in regulating digital assets compared to advances in the United Arab Emirates and the European Union.
