Georgian PM asks Ripple CEO to open a corporate service center in the country

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse met with Georgia Prime minister Irakli Garibashvili during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

A stock photo of the flag of Georgia waving on the Presidential Palace in Tbilisi, Georgia.

According to the tweet by Irakli Garibashvili, two parties discussed Georgia’s “vision on future of blockchain & regulation.” Georgian PM asked Garlinghouse to consider opening a corporate service center in Georgia, pointing out that they were the first country to integrate blockchain technology into public administration. Ripple's CEO hasn’t commented on the outcome of the talks yet.

Back in 2016, Georgia developed a system for registering land titles using blockchain. The implementation of the blockchain increased land registration transparency and reduced the prevalence of fraud, simultaneously cutting the costs by 30%.

Meanwhile, Brad Garlinghouse told Maria Bartiromo, the Fox Business Network TV anchor, that the attitude towards crypto is changing. “First, I’ll say here in Davos, when I came four years ago, crypto was considered a bad word. Today, that is dramatically different. And frankly, our elected officials that are here in Davos are some of the people speaking most aggressively about that.”

Read also: Swiss government-owned bank to offer retail crypto services

Ripple's CEO also mentioned that the United States has a serious problem establishing clear regulations for the crypto industry. Currently, the company continues its legal battle with SEC over whether the XRP token is a currency or unregistered security.

“But there’s no question that regulation around crypto is still trying to find a solid footing, and finding the right posture for the United States. The United States has really been behind other G20 markets like the UK, like Switzerland, like Singapore. They’ve really been leading in establishing a framework that works for both investors as well as entrepreneurs, who are taking advantage of these new technologies and building the next generations of Google and Facebook.“