Ripple Is Ready For Trump's Made-In-America Crypto Era: Brad Garlinghouse

Global payments and fintech giant Ripple, which has grappled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in its fight for the XRP token to be recognized as a non-security, is now prepared for a new cryptocurrency era under President-elect Donald Trump.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse on Sunday provided two crucial updates on how the company has been preparing for the expected changes that Trump's presidency will bring to the crypto space.

Majority of Ripple's Open Jobs for US-based Applicants

The first major update from Garlinghouse is that as of Sunday, "75% of Ripple's open roles are now U.S.-based," marking a stark contrast from how the company's open positions were in the last four years.

Ripple is based in San Francisco, but since 2021, the vast majority of hires were based outside the United States, Garlinghouse said.

Notably, it was four years ago when Ripple was sued by the SEC. At that time, the lawsuit was filed in the last few weeks of Trump's first presidency. When former SEC Chair Jay Clayton left the regulatory agency as President Joe Biden entered the White House, new Chair (and now outgoing) Gary Gensler picked up the case.

Due to the lawsuit, Ripple had been avoiding hires based in the U.S. even as it continued to push for the XRP token to be recognized as a non-security.

With Trump promising to be more forward-looking in his government's approach toward crypto and blockchain technology, it appears Ripple has become more confident in hiring U.S.-based talent.

More Deals Signed in the US

Aside from expanding its hiring in its home country, Ripple has also "signed more U.S. deals in the last six weeks of 2024 (since the election) than the previous six months," Garlinghouse revealed.

This development could indicate that Ripple is now more open to collaborating with American partners without fear for regulatory overreach under the Trump administration.

"Team Trump is already jumpstarting innovation and job growth in the U.S. with Scott Bessent (U.S. Treasury chief pick), David Sacks (appointed crypto and AI czar), Paul Atkins (selected new SEC Chair after Gensler) and others at the helm, and they aren't even in office yet!" Garlinghouse wrote.

$XRP Slightly Pumps

It appears Garlinghouse's big news affected the XRP token's price positively as the altcoin jumped above $2.40 following a dip earlier in the day.

XRP, the native token of the XRP Ledger, is up 1.4% in the day and has been on a 14% rally in the last seven days, being one of the major altcoins that has recovered from December's bloodbath.

Ripple was crypto's comeback story of 2024. It remains to be seen how the company and XRP will fare under the Trump 2.0, but at least based on the vibe of crypto leaders at this point, majority believe that the industry is in for better days.