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Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings, CEO Yoshitaka Kitao, said Japan is the most likely country Ripple will move to if it leaves the United States.
In a press conference on Oct. 28, Kitao said the blockchain-based payments company “made Japan the most promising candidate” for its new headquarters if Ripple avoids its threats to move its San Francisco offices. SBI Holdings is a Ripple investor, while Kitao sits on the company’s board of directors.
Both Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and CEO Brad Garlinghouse have expressed frustration at the lack of regulatory clarity in the United States. Earlier this month, Larsen said the company was considering moving to countries like the UK, Switzerland, Singapore or Japan because authorities in the US had a policy of “regulation through the application “and were” sadly behind “in preparing for the next generation based cryptocurrency of a global financial system.
According to a Bloomberg report dated October 22, Ripple has selected Japan and Singapore. Garlinghouse said at the time that he spoke with SBI about using the country as a potential location for its headquarters.
“Japan is one of our fastest growing markets, partly because we have key partners like SBI,” said Garlinghouse.
SBI Holdings also announced today that Ripple has completed an investment in Japanese payment company MoneyTap, ostensibly as part of its plans to integrate Ripple-powered settlements among ATMs in Japan. The integration is reportedly intended to provide consumers with easier access to funds at Japanese ATMs regardless of their bank affiliation.
