Digital currency startup Ripple Labs has appointed Donald Donahue, former CEO of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) as an advisor to the company.
DTCC is the main clearing house for US securities and derivatives, processing more than $1.6 quadrillion in transactions per year.
In his role as COO and then CEO, Donahue is thought to have led the DTCC’s efforts in stabilising the financial system following the 2007-08 market crash.
Donahue said in a company statement:
“I am 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.”
Donahue also worked with the US Treasury Department and other governmental and private sector groups to improve physical and cyber security in the financial sector following the attacks on the World Trade Centre on 11th September 2001.
Digital Assets, founded by entrepreneurs Sunil Hirani and Don Wilson in 2014, is likely to disrupt some of DTCC’s market share as it sets out to revolutionise the traditional, centralised financial model by enabling customers to convert traditional securities – and other financial products – into digital assets which can be stored on the blockchain.
Blythe Masters, a former notable Wall Street executive, joined the bitcoin trading platform as CEO in March.