Speaker 1: No matter how you slice it, crypto certainly has a
Speaker 1: bigger voice in the election cycle than ever before.
Speaker 2: It's a great way to get into our next guest
Speaker 2: Ripple CEO Brad Garling House, of course, one of the
Speaker 2: companies we named when it came to the involvement in
Speaker 2: this election cycle. And Brad, you know, it's interesting because
Speaker 2: your co founder, Chris Larsen, has given a lot of
Speaker 2: money to the Harris campaign. You had just told us
Speaker 2: a little bit ago that you are fiercely independent, and
Speaker 2: so when you think about the differences in the candidates
Speaker 2: and how they might approach crypto, what do you really know,
Speaker 2: particularly because the Harris campaign has been far more vague.
Speaker 3: Well, I think there's one thing I feel very confident about,
Speaker 3: and that is the Biden Administration's approach to regulation of
Speaker 3: the crypto industry. That is coming to an end for sure,
Speaker 3: and I think no matter where this plays out at
Speaker 3: the presidential level, we will have a more constructive engagement
Speaker 3: with this industry. It's a critical industry, it's an innovative technology,
Speaker 3: and I think the United States should be at the
Speaker 3: forefront and leading, as we did with the Internet of Information.
Speaker 3: I think we'll get there. As I said yesterday at
Speaker 3: the Philadelphia Federal Reserve, I think Gary Gensler's reign of
Speaker 3: terror on the crypto industry is going to come to
Speaker 3: an end very soon. Brad.
Speaker 1: In your view, does it matter if Kamala Harris is
Speaker 1: president come January twentieth or Donald Trump is president come
Speaker 1: January twentieth, what's better for you?
Speaker 3: What's better for Ripple? Well, I've taken a very neutral
Speaker 3: point of view for the crypto industry. I think it's
Speaker 3: clear that the Republicans at a macro level have been
Speaker 3: more proactive in saying this is an industry that needs
Speaker 3: clear regulation. You have seen a Republican led bill in
Speaker 3: the House pass with seventy one or seventy two Democrats
Speaker 3: crossing the alge to support that in a very bipartisan way.
Speaker 3: So I think we have seen a more Republican centric
Speaker 3: But I also think you've seen indications that the Harris
Speaker 3: campaign wants to reset some of the very flawed approaches
Speaker 3: that the Biden administration has had with the crypto industry
Speaker 3: and other parts of technology. So what I'm optimistic about
Speaker 3: is we're going to sea change, We're going to cea reset,
Speaker 3: and I think we need that at the federal level
Speaker 3: the United States. There's no question the United States is
Speaker 3: behind other leading countries like the UK, like Switzerland, like Singapore,
Speaker 3: like Japan that are way ahead and providing constructive and
Speaker 3: clear regulation and rules of the road for this industry.
Speaker 2: Bred. I also want to kind of switch gears here
Speaker 2: and talk about another milestone, let's call it for XARP,
Speaker 2: which is this idea that you have asset managers now
Speaker 2: filing for ETFs tied to it. Started by bit wise,
Speaker 2: what is the prospect of having that spot ETF tied
Speaker 2: to XRP anytime soon and what do you think it'll
Speaker 2: mean for the price of XRP.
Speaker 3: Well, I think we clearly are seeing ETFs have been popular.
Speaker 3: You know, the United States SEC was dragged kicking and
Speaker 3: screaming to approve the Bitcoin ETF in January. I think
Speaker 3: you've seen about seventeen billion dollars flow into that ETF.
Speaker 3: I think it's the fastest growing ETF in history. It's
Speaker 3: very clearly demonstrating those demand from institutions, demand from retail
Speaker 3: to access this asset class. So the XRP interest has grown.
Speaker 3: You've seen two or three ETF filings happen around XRP,
Speaker 3: and to me, it's just inevitable. You're going to see
Speaker 3: not just Bitcoin and Eth, You're going to see an
Speaker 3: XRP ETF. You're starting to see there's a filing around
Speaker 3: a basket ETF that has I think five or six
Speaker 3: cryptos in it, which I think also makes a lot
Speaker 3: of sense. But it also is just part of the
Speaker 3: trend of more and more institutionalized participation in the crypto industry.
Speaker 3: So I think we're going to continue to see that,
Speaker 3: and I do think it creates upward pressure on the
Speaker 3: prices for many different cryptos, including XRP.
Speaker 1: It flows into the Bitcoin ETFs have been pretty remarkable.
Speaker 1: Not so remarkable have been flows into the ETFs. What
Speaker 1: indication do you have, Brad, that there actually is demand
Speaker 1: for an XRP ETF.
Speaker 3: Well, I would disagree that there's not. That. The ETH
Speaker 3: ETF I think has done exceptionally well. It hasn't done
Speaker 3: as well as Bitcoin, but if you look at the
Speaker 3: kind of market dominance of Bitcoin compared to Eth, the
Speaker 3: ratio is about the same in terms of the ETF participation. Obviously,
Speaker 3: the Eth ETF is newer, so I actually think the
Speaker 3: Eth ETF has done very well. I think we clearly
Speaker 3: see a very interested and active community around the XRP ecosystem,
Speaker 3: both here in the United States and beyond, and that
Speaker 3: has grown, and so I think that the a XRP
Speaker 3: ETF will will do quite well.
Speaker 2: You know, I also want to talk about another overhang
Speaker 2: on the XRP price, and that is the ongoing battle
Speaker 2: you have with the SEC. And you have that recent
Speaker 2: move by the SEC to appeal a court judgment that
Speaker 2: had been more favorable for Ripple in this In this fight,
Speaker 2: when does it I'm spread.
Speaker 3: So, look, it's super frustrating. Obviously XRP. It happens to
Speaker 3: be the XRP was rallying and then the announcements around
Speaker 3: the ETFs and the SEC decides to from my point
Speaker 3: of view, manipulate the market, and the price of XRP
Speaker 3: goes down twenty percent. Now, the good news is they're
Speaker 3: not appealing whether not XRP is actually a security, and
Speaker 3: I think this is actually misunderstood in the market. They're
Speaker 3: appealing kind of a nuanced piece around programmatic sales of XRP.
Speaker 3: So the law of the land is clear, XRP is
Speaker 3: not a security. It's a sad reality. There's only two
Speaker 3: digital assets where there is regulatory clarity, that's bitcoin and XRP.
Speaker 3: But do we really want to have to go and
Speaker 3: litigate every single token to determine what whether or not
Speaker 3: they are securities or not. We need clear rules of
Speaker 3: the road. And the sec has just not been a
Speaker 3: good faith actor, and luckily the courts and federal judges
Speaker 3: have called them out on that and used words like
Speaker 3: they're being arbitrary and capricious. That's a quote, saying things
Speaker 3: like they're not acting with a good faith, a llegion
Speaker 3: and still law another quote. So this is not an
Speaker 3: agency that has acted in good faith to find a
Speaker 3: way to regulate this industry in a way that works
Speaker 3: for the industry and works to protect consumers.
Speaker 1: Hey, Brat, we mentioned earlier that Ripple one of the
Speaker 1: biggest donors out there when it comes to campaign contributions,
Speaker 1: whether those are going to a political action committee or
Speaker 1: two candidates, what are you looking for in return from
Speaker 1: these politicians?
Speaker 3: We are looking to get progressive, forward thinking, pro innovation,
Speaker 3: and pro crypto people elected. And the fact that crypto
Speaker 3: in any way has become partisan is it's kind of
Speaker 3: madness to me. It's almost like saying one politician is
Speaker 3: against email and one is pro email, Like it doesn't
Speaker 3: really make sense. What I think regulators and elected politicians
Speaker 3: should focus on is how are these technologies used, not
Speaker 3: taking the issue with one technology or another. So we
Speaker 3: have gotten active because we've had such a hostile environment
Speaker 3: here in the United States, and again I'll contrast that
Speaker 3: with we've had a massively growing business outside the United
Speaker 3: States in markets where regulars and elected officials have engaged
Speaker 3: and created clear rules of the road. So we've been
Speaker 3: actually very happy and excited about how that has played out.
Speaker 3: And I think we're seeing pro innovation, pro technology, pro
Speaker 3: consumer protection candidates get elected over candidates who really have
Speaker 3: had backwards views of in frankly, spreading misinformation and lies
Speaker 3: about how crypto is being used.
Speaker 2: Yad, I want to switch gears for a second here,
Speaker 2: got to get your opinion on what we just saw
Speaker 2: just this week, eye popping deal really for our Stripe
Speaker 2: to acquire a stable cooin platform, a more than billion
Speaker 2: dollar deal in this industry, when you look at a
Speaker 2: deal like that, do you say, Okay, maybe we sell
Speaker 2: Ripple or at least partner with another large financial technology
Speaker 2: firm to expand in the world of stable coins.
Speaker 3: Look at that as a very positive sign that this
Speaker 3: industry is just coming more and more mainstream, more and
Speaker 3: more integrated, and more and more demand and different payment flows.
Speaker 3: So I've view it's a very positive thing for the industry.
Speaker 3: As you probably know, you know, Ripple is about to
Speaker 3: release our own stable coin called r l USD. I
Speaker 3: think the stable coin market's going to continue to grow,
Speaker 3: and I think Stripe is clearly indicating they think the same.
Speaker 1: Ripple CEO Brad garling House joining us from DC Fintech
Speaker 1: Week down in Washington and d C. Thanks so much
Speaker 1: for taking the time to appreciate it.