Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse on Sunday credited President-elect Donald Trump’s proposals for fueling optimism in the crypto market. He noted that most of Ripple’s open roles are now based in the US, a significant shift from the past four years when hiring was primarily international.
Also, Garlinghouse noted that since the election, Ripple has secured as many enterprise deals in the US as it did in the previous six months.
He indicated that this shift is a direct result of increased confidence driven by Trump’s proposals.
“For Ripple, this is even more personal after [SEC Chair Gary] Gensler’s SEC effectively froze our business opportunities here at home for years,” he added. “The optimism is obvious and very deserved.”
A Ripple spokesperson recently told Cryptonews that the company is kicking off 2025 with a major US hiring push, after years of navigating a tough regulatory environment.
“Ripple is doubling down on its belief that the US will become the crypto capital of the world once again,” the spokesperson said.
The company has doubled its hiring efforts in the US compared to 2023. Over the past year, it has also expanded into larger offices in major cities such as San Francisco and New York City.
Ripple faced tensions with Gensler and the SEC due to a 2020 lawsuit targeting Ripple Labs, CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen. The SEC accused Ripple of selling XRP as an unregistered security. Under Gensler’s leadership, the lawsuit heavily disrupted Ripple’s US operations, leading to XRP’s delisting from many exchanges and hindering new business opportunities.
Since Donald Trump’s reelection, the crypto market has experienced a sustained surge, pushing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to new all-time highs.
During the 2024 election cycle, Trump’s campaign took a bold pro-crypto stance, vowing to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet.” He pledged to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, signaling to investors that cryptocurrencies could play a role in the national economy. This marked a notable shift from the previous administration’s regulatory-heavy approach under Gensler, boosting investor confidence.
Moreover, Trump’s economic policies, which emphasize deregulation and tax cuts, are seen as favorable for speculative assets like cryptocurrencies. With expectations of increased government spending and potential inflation driven by stimulus efforts, many investors turned to Bitcoin as a hedge against fiat currency risks and traditional financial market instability.