Regulation? Crypto company Luno says bring it on

Regulation is the invisible foundation of innovation, according to Maya Kumar, Head of Luno UK.

In an interview with Coin Rivet, she addresses recent recommendations made by the Treasury Committee regarding regulation. “We’ve been pro-regulation from day one. Drawing from their experience working with banks and companies like Google, the Luno founders chose to self-regulate. Compliance is built into every part of the platform, from sign-up to spending. So we’re excited to see the UK taking such a nuanced approach to regulation,” she comments.

The Treasury Committee’s work in collaboration with the FCA and BoE marks noteworthy progress in governance of the industry, Kumar believes. It is keeping at the forefront, the desire to drive innovation, increase benefits to society, protect against risks and set up a healthy ecosystem for blockchain technology to thrive sustainably.

“We welcome future regulation in the industry and believe it can have a very positive impact. Regulation ultimately brings clarity to businesses and consumers. It helps keep out fraudsters, charlatans and other operators with low concern (or capabilities) to keep customer information and money safe,” she concludes.

Don’t miss the full interview with Kumar, landing on Coin Rivet later today.

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Bill Clinton has his say

“You can’t apply [an] old regulatory regime to a new technology. You end up killing the goose that laid the golden egg.” So said former US President, Bill Clinton, at Ripple’s Swell 2018 conference, which took place earlier this week in San Francisco.

During a Q&A session with Gene Sperling, a former White House advisor who sits on Ripple’s board of directors, Clinton also remarked that “this whole blockchain deal has the potential it does only because it is applicable across national borders, income groups.”

“The permutations and possibilities are staggeringly great. But we could ruin it all by negative identity politics and economic and social policy,” he added.

Moving in influential circles

Ripple is making a concerted effort to hobnob with the political elite. In addition to nabbing Clinton for its conference, it is part of a group of FinTechs who have teamed up to form the Securing America’s Internet of Value Coalition, which will lobby US lawmakers and regulators on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

“We understand this is really complicated, and there is a lot of misinformation out there. The good news is there is a lot of interest in this topic in D.C,” says Chris Larsen, Executive Chairman of Ripple. “It gives them some upside and gives them some risk. Hopefully, it gives them a taste of the industry in a way that hits home.”

At the top of Ripple’s agenda is whether XRP digital tokens are deemed securities and subject to SEC regulation. The agency has already said that Bitcoin and Ether are not.

Also in the game

The coalition also includes the independent foundation RippleWorks, Coil, Hard Yaka and PolySign. It plans to pay Klein/Johnson about $25,000 a month and 10,000 XRP. Izzy Klein, Co-founder of Klein/Johnson, said his firm would convert the XRP payment into dollars when it discloses the payments on federal lobbying forms.

The formation of the alliance comes as the Congress and SEC grapple with the kind of legal framework that should be applied to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.