Crypto Firms Seek Overseas Growth Amid Regulatory Pressure in the US

• Crypto companies are seeking growth opportunities outside the United States due to regulatory challenges.
• Notable crypto firms, including Ripple Labs, are pivoting their focus away from the U.S. market.
• Crypto companies are reassessing their operations, compliance measures, and hiring practices outside the U.S.

Crypto firms are looking for growth opportunities outside America, according to the Wall Street Journal. The reasons for the departure are reportedly due to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cases against crypto firms.

Managers of crypto companies were reportedly being forced to “cook up growth plans” outside the U.S. The report highlighted one legal case, which is the SEC vs. Binance, and called it a high-profile case.

The Wall Street Journal mentioned three companies that were focusing outside the U.S. for growth. Crypto venture-capital firm Ryze Labs, digital asset marketplace backed by Standard Chartered Zodia Markets, and crypto solutions provider Ripple Labs. Moreover, members of MakerDAO, a decentralized peer-to-peer protocol on Ethereum, recently voted to block U.S-based users from accessing the platform.

The crypto companies were reportedly concerned about how much money they would make after a crackdown from U.S. regulators. Founder and Managing Partner of Ryze Labs, Matthew Graham, said, “In the short term, we can afford to disregard the U.S. But in the long term, it’s a loss for everyone.”

According to reports, the Federal Reserve mentioned that issuing or holding crypto is “highly likely to be inconsistent with safe and sound banking practices.” Furthermore, Paxos Trust, a U.S. crypto firm, was asked to stop creating more BUSD tokens.

Ryze Labs and its portfolio companies are exploring how they are going to ringfence U.S. operations and products and deal with compliance issues, according to Graham. Ripple Labs is reportedly hiring for 85% of its open positions outside of the U.S., noting that by the end of this year, the number of U.S. employees will be down 60% from now.

Zodia Markets Co-Founder and Chief Executive Usman Ahmad shared that the trading platform is in negotiations with several American state regulators. Moreover, Zodia Markets is looking to engage with the Federal Reserve. However, the company is concerned that federal authorities might turn to the judicial system to enforce crypto regulations.