Blockchain-based payment company Ripple Labs has now registered a company in Wyoming.
According to the Wyoming Secretary of State, Ripple Markets WY LLC’s status as a local company will be classified as “active” after an initial filing in February 2020. As a Wyoming limited company, Ripple’s registered agent will be based in Cheyenne.
“More and more crypto companies are realizing that Wyoming is a better place to live than Delaware because of our crypto-friendly laws,” Caitlin Long said on Twitter.
Long is CEO of the digital bank Avanti Bank & Trust and a member of the Select Committee of the state legislature for blockchain, financial technology and digital innovation. She said crypto firms like Ripple should consider moving to Wyoming because the state has no corporate or franchise taxes and cryptocurrencies are exempt from property and sales taxes.
Then there is the US Senator Cynthia Lummis. Wyoming lawmakers are among the first to say digital assets will be an integral part of their legislative agenda. In response to the Ripple news, Lummis’ director of state policy said many people are “maximalists in Wyoming”.
It doesn’t look like Ripple will move its headquarters to the crypto-friendly state, as its main office is still listed as San Francisco. However, both Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and CEO Brad Garlinghouse have stated that they are unhappy with the apparent lack of regulatory clarity regarding crypto and blockchain in the US.
Wyoming is becoming one of the most attractive US states for crypto and blockchain companies. Last year, the Wyoming State Banking Board chartered the Kraken crypto exchange to operate as a crypto-friendly bank and gave Avanti the green light to receive and hold crypto in a similar manner. After purchasing Tesla’s $ 1.5 billion Bitcoin (BTC) earlier this month, Senator Lummis invited CEO Elon Musk to consider moving to the state.
Cointelegraph asked Ripple for comment, but received no response at the time of publication.
