Ripple Could Be Adopted In The UK First If Authorities Follow Japanese Style Regulation

This morning, the 17^th of April 2018, according to AtoZForex.com, a spokesperson from Ripple has urged the UK authorities to follow the footsteps of Japan in their style of cryptocurrency regulation. According to AtoZForex.com, Ryan Zagone, the head of Regulatory Relations at Ripple has urged the UK to capture risk, yet enable innovation, calling upon three key areas that the UK government need to focus on when creating legislation in relation to cryptocurrency. The areas cover: Consumer Protection Anti-Money Laundering Financial Stability According to AtoZForex.com, Zagone has said:

“We’re at that time now where we need more clarity and rules and we need more certainty. It’s a good time to start revisiting that ‘wait and see’ ­approach taken by regulators.”

“Regulation creates the guardrails on the highway that allows new entrants to come in, particularly institutional investors.”

What does this mean for Ripple in the UK? Clearly, the UK is a target area for Ripple integration. The recent partnership with Santander, whom are, according to the Corporate Finance Institute, one of the biggest banks in the UK, makes a good indication that Ripple are trying to break into the UK’s mainstream economy.

“Santander Bank was established in 1988 and is headquartered in London. The bank employs around 19,500 individuals. It operates through Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, and Global Corporate Banking segments. It manages a network of 841 branches and 67 corporate business centres, and also operates through ATMs, telephony, digital, mobile, Internet, and intermediary channels. As of 2016, the total assets of the bank were US$400 billion and net income was US$1 billion.”

So, if Zagone’s comments are anything to go buy, we can assume that Ripple will take advantage of new legislation and drive for adoption in the UK, provided the legislation is similar to what we are seeing in Japan. The idea of capturing risk and enabling innovation is a beautiful concept, one which resonates with the idea of a crypto-savvy society that can use their currencies to be creative, knowing they are operating with safe boundaries under the protection of authorities. It’s rather utopian but it is at the end of the day, a vision that Ripple seem to have had from the start. The big question is, if the UK authorities do take this approach to regulation, will we see Ripple become the first nationally adopted cryptocurrency here? As I have mentioned, with Santander already using Ripples infrastructure, the UK does provide Ripple with a great training ground in which it can let XRP mature. As the third highest ranked currency in terms of market cap, with a low, easily manageable value it does seem (out of the top 5) to be the most likely currency to be adopted seamlessly in the UK. So, this isn’t really a breakthrough in terms of adoption in the UK, but, the interest from Ripple should get people talking, especially those at government level who are working tirelessly to square up the blockchain industry in the UK. Let’s hope they take Zagone’s comments on board and work with them, not against them.