The forecasts of Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, are hopeful regarding the fact that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will grant further approvals for crypto-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
This is especially considering the success already achieved with Bitcoin ETFs. This expectation was expressed during the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2024. Let’s see all the details below.
Summary
Ripple CEO’s predictions for cryptocurrencies: SEC will approve more ETFs
As anticipated, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse predicts that the approval of several Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States will pave the way for the launch of similar investment products in the crypto sector by 2024.
During an interview with Arjun Kharpal of CNBC in Davos on January 16, Garlinghouse refrained from making an explicit prediction on the approval of an XRP ETF by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
However, he expects that an Ethereum ETF will be approved in the near future. Not surprisingly, Garlinghouse stated the following during the CNBC interview at the Filecoin Sanctuary:
“I think it’s a certainty. I don’t want to establish a time frame, but I believe there will definitely be other ETFs.”
His statements were made in response to questions focused on the approval of Bitcoin ETFs by the SEC, despite no final approval from the regulatory authority’s president, Gary Gensler.
Some statements from the CEO of Ripple
Garlinghouse criticized Gensler’s regulatory approach, using an expression that suggests that “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”
He also emphasized that Gensler could have become a political liability in the United States and is not acting in the long-term interest of the economy.
The CEO of Ripple has also noted that the SEC is under pressure from the US judicial system for its regulatory approach to cryptocurrencies and has emphasized the need for regulatory clarity in the stablecoin market.
Garlinghouse concluded by stating that, although the approval of Bitcoin ETFs has brought significant trading activity, it would be sad if every ETF had to face the same obstacles and Gensler was once again criticized by the judicial system.
Finally, it highlighted the significant contrast in trading volume between Bitcoin ETFs and the other 500 ETFs launched in the United States in 2023.
Ripple responds to concerns about the absence of the Genesis block on XRPL
David Schwartz, CTO of Ripple, recently addressed concerns about the lack of a Genesis block on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), citing a similar case with Ethereum.
His statements were a response to the questions raised by the community member MetaMan regarding the seemingly unusual start to block 32,569 on the XRP Ledger.
MetaMan has expressed skepticism and emphasized the importance of transparency for XRP holders, asking if there are any precedents of blockchains that have lost their Genesis block.
In response, Schwartz drew a parallel with the ambiguity of the Genesis block of Ethereum, highlighting that, despite transactions prior to its official start, Ethereum does not publicly document them.
This is not the first time that the peculiarity of the Genesis block has been questioned, with past criticisms on the distribution scheme of XRP.
Schwartz has consistently rejected such notions. In 2013, for example, an XRP holder had already raised a similar question on Bitcoin Stack Exchange, asking why the network was launched at block 32,570.
Schwartz had then responded explaining a bug that had affected the Ripple servers, causing the loss of log headers.
Despite efforts to collect data, insufficient information has hindered the reconstruction of the registry. Schwartz reassured users by stating that the missing records had no significance for the average XRPL users.
In addition, in a December 2019 post, Schwartz provided a broader historical perspective, highlighting the evolution of the XRP Ledger since its live debut in June 2012.
It has confirmed that, due to bugs and restoration exercises, the data from the first week of the XRP Ledger has been lost, but it has assured that the initial supply of 100 billion XRP has not been recreated during the restoration process.
