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Ripple applies for UK cryptocurrency license

Ripple has applied for registration as a cryptocurrency company with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) following its partial victory against the US SEC.

Payment Protocol Ripple recently applied for registration as a cryptocurrency company with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a company spokesperson tells Cointelegraph. The company is also seeking a payments license in Ireland as part of its major investment in the region.

More cryptocurrency companies are looking to the UK for regulatory clarity and a favorable business environment amid a wave of enforcement actions by the SEC in the US.

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (A16z) recently announced its first new non-US office in London, following “months of constructive discussions” with policymakers and the FCA, citing a “predictable business environment” as one of the main reasons for expanding abroad.

Several pieces of legislation have been introduced in the British Parliament with the aim of establishing a crypto-regulated environment in the UK. In June, a bill subjecting cryptocurrencies to the same rules applied to traditional assets was enacted after receiving royal assent from King Charles. The new law gives the Treasury, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Bank of England and the Payment Systems Regulator the authority to introduce and enforce regulations for crypto companies.

In another recent development, upper house lawmakers discussed a bill that seeks to expand authorities’ ability to target cryptocurrencies used for illicit purposes. The bill includes provisions for authorities to have greater flexibility in the confiscation and recovery of crypto assets.

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Coinbase Granted Permission For Support On SEC Vs Ripple

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has been granted permission to file its amicus brief to join Ripple Labs in supporting its ongoing lawsuit with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

On Monday, US District Judge Analisa Torres granted motions for the 12 Ripple supporters to submit their amicus briefs. Among the list of growing supporters are Coinbase and the Blockchain Association. Backers have until November 18 to submit their abstracts, but Coinbase has already confirmed their submission. Earlier this month, she asked the court to consider her request for an amicus brief. An amicus brief is known as a “friend of the court” and is a legal brief that contains advice or information related to a court case from an organization that is not directly involved in the case.

The case between Ripple Labs and the SEC took a big step forward in October, when it was decided in Ripple’s favor and Judge Torres ordered the SEC to turn over Hinman’s disputed documents. These documents contain internal SEC emails and drafts from former corporate CFO William Hinman. The documents contain discovery material from a speech given by Hinman in which he claimed that Bitcoin and Ether are not securities. In his speech, Hinman said:

Based on my understanding of the current state of Ether, the Ethereum network and its decentralized structure, the current offers and sales of Ether are not securities transactions.

The documents are more broadly related to the lawsuit against Ripple Labs, its former CEO Chris Larson and its current CEO Brad Garlinghouse. The SEC filed the lawsuit in 2020 alleging that the three entities, Ripple Labs, Garlinghouse, and Larsen, illegally profited from the sale of Ripple’s native XRP token as unregistered securities.

After a week of great uncertainty for the broader cryptocurrency market, XRP was leading in terms of gains and gained more than 10% following developments.