According to Ripple CEO, Coinbase should add XRP.
The largest American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has everything to integrate XRP, Ripple’s cryptocurrency. Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple Labs CEO, stated this at the conference CB Insights Future of Fintech. Also he reminded again that XRP is not a security and the company does not control it.
According to the head of Ripple Labs, which controls the same payment platform worth $ 18 billion, XRP solves the scaling problems for financial institutions and large banks, and Coinbase should be interested in listing XRP on its platform.
Garlinghouse stressed that XRP exists independently of Ripple. This means that even if the company disappears, its currency will continue to exist as a crypto asset. In addition, XRP tokens are used to conduct transactions between institutions and individuals as a utility currency, unlike shares and other traditional securities.
“I think it’s really clear that XRP is not a security. XRP exists independent of Ripple and it would operate even if Ripple Labs failed,” he said. “I don’t think that our ownership of XRP gives us control. Saudi Arabia owns a lot of oil-that doesn’t give them control of oil.”
What stops Coinbase?
Although the arguments of Garlinghouse are reasonable and logical, but it is the opinion of only the company, and not the official position of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Many participants of the cryptocurrency market expect that the SEC will soon begin to make claims to both investors and sellers of that tokens that will be classified as securities.
Thus, if Coinbase adds XRP and XRP will be recognized in the US as a security, then the management and traders of crypto exchange will be responsible as unregistered distributors. Therefore, Coinbase will probably not work with XRP until the SEC provides an official explanation of the status of this token.
Earlier, the former head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Gary Gensler, said that Ethereum and Ripple could be recognized as unregistered securities. Then the US Securities and Exchange Commission named Ethereum and Bitcoin the goods, but did not specify the legal status of the XRP token.
Currently, Ripple, the third largest coin by market value, is trading at $0.48, which is the lowest level since December 2017.
