Ripple has appointed two new members to its leadership team, Rosa Rios and Kristina Campbell. Rios, the 43rd U.S. Treasurer, will be joining the Board of Directors. Apart from being known for its association with XRP, several mainstream banks use RippleNet for payments, and its On-Demand Liquidity solution, which uses XRP, is used by several money transfer companies.
The appointment of a former regulator comes amid Ripple’s ongoing legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC has alleged that Ripple and its CEO and Chairman conducted an unregulated securities offering for the XRP cryptocurrency.
Given that context, Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse said, “Rosie’s experience in the public and private sectors provides an invaluable perspective to Ripple, especially during this time as the industry works to define crypto’s future.”
Ripple had previously demonstrated frustrations towards U.S. regulatory uncertainty around cryptocurrencies and even threatened to relocate its headquarters to a more blockchain friendly nation. Besides the addition of Rios, the group brought on former JP Morgan Chief of Regulatory Affairs Officer Sandie O’Connor, who joined Ripple’s board of directors at the end of last year.
The SEC litigation was launched shortly before the departure of previous SEC chair Jay Clayton. Many in the XRP ecosystem are hopeful that Gary Gensler, the new SEC Chair, will offer some relief. While it’s likely that Gensler will provide greater clarity and certainty about cryptocurrencies, it remains to be seen whether or not that will help Ripple.
“Blockchain and digital assets will underpin our future global financial systems,” said Rios. “Cryptocurrency is the what. Ripple is the how.”
The other appointment, Kristina Campbell, takes on the role of Chief Finance Officer. She previously served as finance chief for fintech firms Green Dot and PayNearMe.
Meanwhile, Ripple launched a line of credit to provide commercial payment providers with capital to buy XRP for use in its On-Demand Liquidity solution, and it recently acquired 40% of Tranglo to expand the solution in Asia.
