SBI Defends Ripple
Japanese brokerage giant SBI has come out to defend XRP after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged the cryptocurrency’s founding firm Ripple for conducting unregistered securities offerings.
Despite the SEC’s charges over an unregistered securities offering valued at $1.3 billion, SBI issued a statement (Japanese only) to clarify the difference in Japan’s regulatory framework on cryptocurrencies and expressed confidence in Ripple’s underlying payment technology.
In the statement, SBI cites Sadakazu Osaki, a fellow of the Nomura Research Institute, who underlined that XRP under Japanese law is considered a 'cryptocurrency asset’ – cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have been recognized as legal tender for payment in the country since 2016 – effectively making regulations governing financial securities irrelevant.
«It can be said that it has been done,» SBI said regarding the establishment of a legal definition. «This point will not be affected by the proceedings between the SEC and Ripple. As mentioned in the note, XRP will continue to trade on cryptocurrency exchanges registered as cryptocurrency exchange companies as 'cryptocurrency assets' rather than ‘securities' in Japan. We do not think that there will be any problems.»
XRP Crash
XRP has been on a downturn after peaking in late November above $0.69 but the SEC charge last week sent the cryptocurrency diving, shedding around 50 percent in less than a week.
Although SBI is amongst the early adopters – the firm recently partnered with Ripple to pay the salaries of at least three e-sports teams in XRP – it notes that the latest market crash had «almost no adverse effect on [its] consolidated business results».
Partnership Unaffected
In addition, SBI also highlighted that it remained confident in the underlying technology powering XRP transactions and that it would continue to support Ripple’s expansion.
«In addition, the remittance solution that utilizes the distributed ledger technology that Ripple provides globally to financial institutions can significantly reduce the cost of international remittance regardless of whether or not XRP is used,» SBI explained.
«Therefore, considering that major financial institutions such as Europe and Asia are also considering the use of this solution, Ripple is also considering relocating its head office outside the United States. The Group will continue to actively support the activities of Ripple to expand its use in Japan and overseas.»
SEC Versus Ripple
Meanwhile, SEC will move forward with legal proceedings including two more charges against former and current CEO Christian Larsen and Bradley Garlinghouse, respectively, over approximately $600 million in gains made through the sale of digital assets in the unregistered offering. XRP was also allegedly exchanged for «non-cash consideration such as labor and market-making services».
«The SEC is fundamentally wrong as a matter of law and fact,» Ripple responded in a statement.
«We are right and will aggressively fight – and win – this battle in the courts to get clear rules of the road for the entire industry in the U.S.,» according to a «Reuters» report citing an email statement from Garlinghouse.
