Gregg Kidd, a former Senior Analyst at the Federal Reserve Board and current Nevada congressional candidate, recently spoke at the XRP Las Vegas 2024 conference. His remarks shed light on Ripple and XRP’s influence on shaping public policy surrounding cryptocurrency in the United States.
From Traditional Finance to Ripple
Kidd’s journey from the Federal Reserve to Ripple began when he encountered the then-emerging San Francisco payments company. He recognized Ripple’s potential, describing it as a company “promising” a new approach to financial transactions compared to the established systems he was familiar with at the Federal Reserve.
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At the time, Ripple’s technology resembled a distributed ledger similar to Bitcoin’s but with crucial distinctions. According to Kidd, it incorporated two additional data fields – one for the issuing entity and another for the specific currency being transacted.
This innovation piqued Kidd’s interest, prompting him to learn more about the “future” that XRP and Ripple represented, as he phrased it. He credited Arthur Britto and David Schwartz, two of the XRP Ledger’s architects, for their role in his transition “from the history world at the Federal Reserve to the whole new universe that XRP and Ripple brought.”
Ripple’s Impact on Public Policy
Joining Ripple as Chief Risk Officer in 2013, Kidd found himself navigating conversations about compliance and risk management with Chris Larsen, Ripple’s Executive Chairman. While Larsen initially questioned the necessity of such measures due to Ripple’s lack of pressing compliance issues at the time, the conversation foreshadowed the future legal battles Ripple would face.
In December 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Ripple, alleging XRP to be an unregistered security. This landmark case marked one of the first enforcement actions against a major cryptocurrency firm and thrust Ripple into the center of the ongoing debate over crypto regulation.
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The legal battle has had wider implications. A US court’s declaration of XRP as a non-security could be cited by other crypto companies, including Coinbase and BinanceUS, in their ongoing disputes with the SEC. Terraform Labs has already adopted this strategy in its legal battle.
Kidd expressed his belief that Ripple has played a pivotal role in shaping US crypto policy by actively contesting the SEC’s stance. Industry observers have acknowledged Ripple’s leadership in the fight against regulatory uncertainty within the American crypto landscape.
The ongoing legal battle between Ripple and the SEC will continue to shape public policy surrounding cryptocurrency in the United States. Regardless of the outcome, Ripple’s role in this case has undoubtedly impacted the conversation significantly.
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