Ripple announces new President as firm awaits ruling in SEC lawsuit

Blockchain firm Ripple has named a new president as the company gears up for the ruling in the lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The company has promoted Monica Long to the President position after she served as a senior vice president and general manager, Ripple announced in a blog post on January 27.

According to the company, Long, who joined in 2013, has been instrumental in helping Ripple attain a strong financial position despite different phases of the crypto market.  In her previous role, Long was responsible for steering the company’s product, engineering, partnerships, marketing, and developer relations.

“I’m incredibly honored to take on the role of President at Ripple as we expand deeper into crypto-enabled services like liquidity, settlement, and custody,” Long said.

Notably, Long was a central figure in the rollout of the On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) product that is leveraged for cross-border transactions. The initiative has advanced to play a key role in Ripple’s ability to process cross-border transactions to a volume of $30 billion.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse pointed out that Long has been a critical advisor to him in different phases of the crypto market.

Ripple’s leadership and the SEC case 

Indeed, the focus has turned to Ripple’s leadership as the company awaits the fate of the case in which it has been sued by the SEC for selling unregistered securities in the form of XRP tokens. Notably, the outcome of the case is projected to have an impact on the company alongside the general crypto space.

However, the company’s leadership under Garlinghouse has expressed confidence in winning the matter.

Under the latest update, parties and interested entities have made final briefings, with the focus turning on the presiding judge. Although there is increased speculation regarding the possible outcomes, legal experts have maintained that predicting the case remains challenging since both parties have an almost equal chance. 

One of the outcomes on the table is a possible settlement after the ruling. In particular, pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton has projected that both SEC and Ripple might go for a settlement to avoid further appeals.