Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has voiced optimism about the future of cryptocurrency in the U.S., describing a potential shift in the regulatory environment following President-elect Donald Trump’s election. In an interview with Fox Business on Friday, Garlinghouse explained:
We finally have a crypto president. The crypto industry has embraced Trump. Trump has embraced the crypto industry. I think it’s very genuine.
“I think he sees the opportunities, he sees innovation, he sees entrepreneurship, and I’m very excited about what the future holds,” Garlinghouse added, emphasizing that this new environment ends years of restrictive oversight by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), unlocking tremendous potential for growth.
The Ripple executive pointed to XRP’s impressive performance as a sign of the sector’s newfound strength. “XRP’s up 70 plus percent since election day. The best-performing crypto assets are all U.S. companies or U.S. technologies. This shouldn’t be a surprise. The United States SEC has been manipulating and putting pressure on these U.S companies, U.S technologies. And now that pressure comes off and they explode upwards. So we shouldn’t be surprised by that,” he opined.
Garlinghouse credited the market’s resurgence to the removal of regulatory pressure, stating: “We went from 2.2 trillion to basically three trillion. So this was an 800 billion dollar unlock.”
He also applauded Robinhood for re-listing XRP, calling the move a welcome recognition of the changing environment. Reflecting on the recent lawsuit by 18 Republican attorneys general against the SEC for overreach, Garlinghouse said: “Welcome to the party.” He emphasized Ripple’s long-standing fight for fair regulation, sharing that the company has invested over $150 million to challenge the SEC’s actions.
Looking forward, the Ripple CEO expressed confidence in a future where crypto innovation thrives. He concluded:
We got to get away from regulation through enforcement … It’s a totally new day, and I could not be happier.
