Digital currency firm Ripple Labs has enlisted former Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) CEO Donald Donahue as an advisor.
Now the president of risk consulting outfit Miranda Partners, Donahue lead the DTCC as it played a central role in efforts to stabilise the financial system following the 2008 crisis. Ripple Labs says that he will bring deep financial services infrastructure technology and security expertise to the table as it seeks to embed itself within the banking system.
Ripple is bidding to work with international banks to rewire the international money transfer business through the fast and frictionless exchange of its digital currency tokens in exchange for fiat currency, effectively upending traditional banking payments channels by creating a fiction-free standard for instantaneous funds transfers. The technology also has the potential to disintermediate depositories like the DTCC by providing a platform for storing digital assets on the blockchain, without the intervention of intermediaries.
Says Donahue: "I'm very interested in the capabilities distributed payment technologies seem to offer for improving the safety, soundness and cost effectiveness of global payments and settlement infrastructures. Ripple is already a clear leader in this space; I'm looking forward to working with the Ripple Labs team to deliver on these exciting possibilities."
Last week, Ripple scored a major coup with the news that Commonwealth Bank of Australia is to become its first tier one partner, testing its technology to transfer funds between subsidiaries. The startup also recently closed a $28 million Series A funding round.