Transparency is a “critical” value in the crypto industry, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has pointed out. Speaking to Fox Business news, the executive said operations clarity has become even more important with the recent “meltdown” of the UST stablecoin.
On May 9, UST de-pegged from the dollar, bringing down the whole Terra (LUNA) ecosystem with it. The crisis caused panic among investors, and many onlookers wondered whether other stablecoins would suffer a similar state.
Transparency Is Key: Garlinghouse
Garlinghouse clarified that he is not “personally involved” in lead stablecoin Tether (USDT). However, he noted that the whole crypto industry could do well if it provides clarity regarding its financial frameworks. For Tether, that would assure its users that it “is, in fact, dollar-backed.”
He gave Ripple and XRP as an example of transparent players in the industry, saying the two have done their best to be the “adult” in the financial sector.
Of note, Garlinghouse is currently attending the annual World Economic Forum in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.
The event began on Sunday, May 22, and runs until May 26. According to its official website, the forum hosts different world leaders to discuss the world’s status quo, along with forging “partnerships and policies” for future use. Garlinghouse noted that he was in attendance with the aim of sharing Ripple’s mechanisms as part of keeping it transparent.
Other than solving “real-world problems,” the executive said blockchain tech reduces remittance costs and “improves the efficiency of cross-border payments.” El Salvador cited similar reasons when it adopted Bitcoin as legal tender last year.
The Case for Ripple and UST
Since its inception, Terra, seemingly transparent, presented UST as an algorithmic stablecoin guided by the law of supply and demand. However, its shocking collapse painted a completely different picture and tarnished its reputation in a possibly irreparable manner.
Now the crypto sector has, more than ever, attracted regulators’ scrutiny. Gary Gensler, chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), recently warned investors that other crypto assets could mimic Terra’s downfall. Meanwhile, South Korea’s National Tax Service has hit Terra’s Do Kwon with a $78 million tax evasion fine, despite the notorious executive refuting these claims.
On the other hand, Ripple, along with its executives Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen, continue to engage with the SEC in the one-and-a-half years-long law lawsuit. In the latest proceedings, the regulator said it could neither confirm nor deny the identity of its former executive Bill Hinman in his famous securities speech of 2018.