Stuart Alderoty, who is FinTech firm Ripple’s General Counsel, says that although his firm still has quite a lot of employees inside the U.S. (presumably since the headquarters are in San Francisco), it is “effectively” operating outside the U.S.

On 22 December 2020, the SEC announced that it had “filed an action against Ripple Labs Inc. and two of its executives. According to a report , Alderoty told them: “Essentially, its customers and its revenue are all driven outside of the U.S., even though we still have a lot of employees inside of the U.S.“

Ripple’s General Counsel also said Ripple, which currently has two employees based in the Republic of Ireland, is aiming to get a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license from the Central Bank of Ireland in order to “passport” its services throughout the EU via this Irish entity. Furthermore, Ripple is apparently intending to get ab electronic money license in Ireland in the near future.