Ripple has become a registered business in Wyoming despite its current troubles with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Blockchain-based payments firm Ripple Labs has become a registered business in Wyoming. The records obtained from the Wyoming Secretary of State show that Ripple Markets WY LLC is now an active business in the state after an initial filing earlier this month.
Ripple is now a limited liability company in Wyoming, and its registered agent will be based in Cheyenne. Wyoming is becoming an attractive state for cryptocurrency companies, thanks to the crypto-friendly laws in place.
Caitlin Long, the founder, and CEO of AvantiBT, welcomed Ripple Labs to the state. The Wall Street veteran tweeted about this latest development. She said, “More crypto cos are realising Wyoming is a better domicile than Delaware due to our crypto-friendly laws”.
Long highlighted that crypto firms are moving to the state due to the absence of corporate or franchise taxes. Furthermore, cryptocurrencies are exempted from property and sales tax in the state.
It is still unclear if Ripple will move its headquarters to Wyoming as its principal office is still located in San Francisco. The blockchain firm and some of its executives were sued by the SEC for issuing and selling unlicensed securities in the form of XRP.
The lawsuit led to XRP losing its place as the third-largest cryptocurrency, sustaining massive losses in the market. However, while the XRP price has bounced back and is trading above $0.6, it is currently the seventh-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, behind Cardano, Tether, Polkadot, Binance Coin, Ethereum and Bitcoin.
Registering Ripple labs in Wyoming is a surprising move from the firm, considering co-founder Chris Larsen and CEO Brad Garlinghouse had expressed their displeasure at the lack of regulatory clarity on the crypto and blockchain sector in the country.
Wyoming has become one of the leading destinations for cryptocurrency companies in the United States. Crypto companies in the state are receiving excellent support from the government. Last year, crypto exchange Kraken was granted a charter to operate as a crypto-friendly bank in the state. Avanti was also given the approval to receive and custody cryptocurrencies as a crypto-friendly bank.