Ripple Adds Four Members to Regulatory Team, Joins Blockchain Association

San Francisco-based blockchain startup Ripple has announced three new appointments to its global regulatory team and that the company will be joining the Blockchain Association.

Per an Oct. 22 blog post, Ripple has onboarded four new members — Craig Phillips, Michelle Bond, Ron Hammond and Susan Friedman — to its global regulatory team based in Washington D.C. Michelle Bond will also sit on the board of the Blockchain Association.

Execs with financial sector regulation backgrounds

Phillips joined Ripple from the United States Treasury Department, where he served as Counselor to the Secretary and worked on the Executive Order 13772, a presidential executive order that establishes a series of standards designed to manage regulatory actions that impact the financial sector, as well as intends to advance economic growth. At Ripple, Phillips will advise on strategic regulatory opportunities.

Prior to Ripple, Bond served as the global head of policy at blockchain and head of global regulatory affairs and public policy at Bloomberg, and Senior Counsel at both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Senate Banking Committee.

Friedman worked as the Senior Advisor to CFTC Chairman Heath Tarbert in his previous capacity as Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for International Markets, while at Ripple she will serve as an international policy counsel. Ron Hammond joins Ripple as a manager of government relations, having previously served as a Legislative Assistant to Representative Warren Davidson.

More changes and industry participation

Ripple’s membership in the Blockchain Association will also put it in contact with many of the regulators and lobbyists working in the space. The association is a non-profit organization that consists of blockchain advocates and promotes adoption of blockchain technology around the globe.

As recently reported, Ripple went through a rebranding as it fused three of its services — xRapid, xVia and xCurrent — into RippleNet offering. The company reportedly believes that moving from a suite of services to offer a network to its customers is a natural evolution of its strategy due to the growth of its user base and development of its standard.