Ripple CEO Says Citibank Ended Banking Services Due to His Role in Crypto Industry

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse shared his ‘debanking experience’ as he said that his personal long-standing Citibank account has been terminated only because he is a well-known figure in the cryptocurrency industry.

At DC Fintech week, Garlinghouse said, “Individuals in the crypto industry are being terminated from banking services.” as he added, “I have personally been terminated from banking services.”

Associating his personal experience with an ongoing trend in the US, Garlinghouse said US industries are finding it difficult to keep relationships with banks due to regulators advising financial institutions to reduce their involvement in cryptocurrency.

In a recent interview, Garlinghouse also revealed that the bank that terminated its relationship with him was Citibank, of which he was a customer for about 25 years. Garlinghouse noted that this wasn’t the only personal banking relationship he had lost due to his involvement in the cryptocurrency industry.

Ripple CEO said, “They told me ‘You have five days to transfer your money.'”.He went on to highlight that the bank was actually very honest.Garlinghouse added, that the bank warned him, ‘Look, you’re a well-known figure in the cryptocurrency space, you have a well-known figure in the cryptocurrency industry, and you bank the cryptocurrency industry, which means you’re going to be subject to more scrutiny from federal regulators.’” 

Even as Garlinghouse accused SEC of creating a hostile environment for the crypto industry that seeped its way into the U.S. Treasury Department and banking regulator Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, he did say that no matter what US elections results turn out to be, the crypto industry will see a reset for the better.

He even publicly backed Republican candidate John Deaton over anti-friendly Senator Elizabeth Warren, as he posted on X, “VOTE FOR HIM if you’re in Massachusetts!”, and applauded Deaton’s advocacy for XRP.

@JohnEDeaton1 has been a relentless advocate for the XRP Army (aka XRP Family!) and the entire crypto industry. Meanwhile, his opponent, @SenWarren spreads misinformation and lies about crypto.

I endorse John enthusiastically and wholeheartedly in his run for Senate.
For those… https://t.co/EIUsh6BC3O

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) October 22, 2024

Ripple head honcho also reaffirmed on XRP ETF approval being “inevitable”, as he touched upon how countries like UK, Switzerland, Singapore, and Japan are “way ahead in providing constructive and clear regulation and rules of the road for this industry.”

Also Read: Ripple CTO Issues Major Caution on Upcoming Anti-Trump Story