Citibank Debanked Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse Due to Crypto, Exec Says

Ripple
CEO
Brad
Garlinghouse
has
personally
been
severed
from
a
longtime
banking
relationship
because
he’s
a
prominent
figure
in
crypto,
he
told
an
audience
in
Washington
on
Wednesday.

“Individuals
within
the
crypto
industry
are
being
de-banked,”
he
said
at
DC
Fintech
Week.
“I
personally
have
been
de-banked.”

Garlinghouse
tied
his
own
experience
to
the
wider
trend
in
the
U.S.
industry
that’s
struggled
to
maintain
banking
ties
as

regulators
have
cautioned
institutions
to
limit
their
crypto
involvement.

He
later
added
in
an
interview
with
CoinDesk
that
the
institution
that
cut
him
off
recently
was
Citigroup
Inc.,
with
which
he’d
been
a
customer
for
about
25
years,
he
said.
And
he
added
that
it’s
not
the
only
personal
banking
relationship
he’s
lost
because
of
his
role
in
crypto.

“They
said,
‘You
have
five
days
to
move
your
money,”
he
said.
“They
were
actually
super
honest.
They’re
like,
‘Look,
you
are
a
notable
person
in
crypto,
and
having
notable
people
in
crypto,
and
banking
the
crypto
industry
means
more
scrutiny
from
federal
regulators.”

The
CEO
was
highly
critical
of
President
Joe
Biden’s
administration
in
Washington,
saying
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
Chair
Gary
Gensler
has
led
a
“reign
of
terror,”
and
accusing
the
U.S.
Treasury
Department
and
banking
regulator
Office
of
the
Comptroller
of
the
Currency
of
being
“hostile”
to
the
industry.
He
said
that
whichever
way
the
U.S.
presidential
elections
go
next
month,
the
future
for
crypto
policy
will
be
better.

“No
matter
what
happens,
we’re
going
to
see
a
reset,”
he
said.

He
also
said
that
an
exchange-traded
fund
(ETF)
pegged
to
the
price
of
XRP
was
“inevitable”
during
his
remarks.

Garlinghouse
and
Ripple
have
been
among
the
chief

backers
of
the
Fairshake
political
action
committee,
the
pro-crypto
group
that
has
been
among
the
dominant
campaign-finance
forces
in
the
2024
elections.
Apart
from
personally
supporting
the
political
opponent
of
Sen.
Elizabeth
Warren
(D-Mass.),
he
isn’t
endorsing
either
major
U.S.
political
party
and
said
he
was
wearing
a
purple
tie
on
Wednesday
for
a
reason.

The
primary
indicator
of
the
next
administration’s
crypto
stance
will
be
who
the
president
appoints
at
agencies
such
as
the
SEC,
Treasury,
OCC
and
Commodity
Futures
Trading
Commission.

“It’ll
be
telling
as
to
what
the
direction
of
travel
is
for
the
next
four
years,”
Garlinghouse
said.
“No
matter
what,
we’re
going
to
end
up
in
a
better
place.”
“When
we
look
back
on
this
period
of
time
in
the
United
States
as
it
relates
to
crypto,
it’s
going
to
look
like
a
speed
bump,”
he
said.

Still,
when
asked
what
advice
he’d
give
to
a
crypto
startup
right
now,
he
said
they
should
incorporate
outside
the
U.S.
“I
hate
saying
that,”
he
said.
“I’ll
be
honest:
I
grew
up
in
Kansas.
I’m
a
pro-U.S.
guy.”