Cory Johnson: Crypto regulation will encourage innovation

Speaking at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit: Crypto, Johnson said clarity from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “helps innovation happen in a world of technology”.

“When the day comes that the SEC has made it really clear what the lanes are in which we can operate in this country, it’s going to be good for innovation and it’s going to be bad for the crooks,” he stated.

Johnson argued that other countries, such as Switzerland and Singapore, are ahead of the US in recognising that blockchain represents the next wave of technology. They are offering regulatory clarity and encouraging entrepreneurs to set up companies within their shores. “I would like to see this in the US, so that innovation can happen and the crooks go away,” he added.

Johnson also responded to a recent Reuters article in which a Ripple executive stated banks are unlikely to process payments with distributed ledgers any time soon. He admitted some banks are uncomfortable using cryptocurrencies and that “you can’t put the whole world on a blockchain”.

“But there are some important use cases where things work better using blockchain, and where using XRP through our xRapid product can help move money cheaply, safely and securely really fast,” said Johnson.

“Our first product doesn’t use XRP at all and that’s helping banks get comfortable with us. It’s a new technology but we’ve already got 100 customers using it, so that tells me there is something there and that financial institutions see some value in it.”