Ripple establishes regional office in Dubai

The San Francisco based blockchain company has opened up regional offices in Dubai as it looks to  relocate its headquarters

Plans for a new Ripple global headquarters are still being hammered out, but that isn’t holding the company back from new office expansions. The company announced it was opening a regional HQ in Dubai. Ripple’s MENA offices will be based in the Dubai International Financial Centre. The building already hosts many other businesses, including hotels, financial companies and art galleries.

The odds of Dubai being the next global headquarter for Ripple are, however, slim. Ripple voiced its frustrations about the regulatory environment in the US at the start of October. The company threatened to leave the country if the landscape was not made friendlier.

Ripple will most likely relocate to a country where the regulating authorities don’t view the XRP token as a security. Late in October, the blockchain firm said it was seriously considering Japan as its next home. Other options mentioned included Switzerland, Singapore and the UK.

The MD for Ripple MENA Navin Gupta cited its huge base in the Middle East and North Africa as the reason behind the move. The innovative regulations in the region also played a role.

“Ripple already has a significant client base in the MENA [the Middle East and North Africa] region, and the opportunity to co-locate with our customers made DIFC a natural choice. Our regional office will serve as a springboard to introduce our blockchain-based solutions and deepen our ties with even more Financial Institutions in the region,” he explained

As the new regional headquarter is in the United Arab Emirates, Ripple will benefit greatly tax-wise. It is reported that the DIFC will offer Ripple zero taxes on corporate income and profits for more than half a century.

Ripple’s decision to open a new regional HQ comes at a time when XRP is seeing heightened volatility. The Q3 XRP Markets Report published on November 5 revealed increased XRP volatility over Q3 higher than that seen for both BTC and ETH.