As Ripple grows and evolves, so does our leadership team. That’s why today we are excited to announce two big changes. David Schwartz, who previously served as Ripple’s chief cryptographer, has been appointed to chief technology officer (CTO). Separately, Kahina Van Dyke has joined Ripple as our senior vice president, Business and Corporate Development.

With a business that spans across many verticals — including cryptography, financial services, payments and blockchain — we’re always looking for talented leaders with diverse backgrounds. Sometimes those individuals are already at the company, sometimes they are not.

“David and Kahina exemplify success. At every step in their careers, they have shown the type of leadership qualities and business prowess that will be instrumental as Ripple continues to grow,” said Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple. “This is a fantastic duo that showcases the two sides of Ripple. David is a world renowned leader in the blockchain and digital asset world, and Kahina is a seasoned veteran in the traditional banking and financial services industries.”

Schwartz will be responsible for Ripple’s technical strategy and development. His work will focus on improving the reach and volume of transactions across RippleNet through enhancements to Ripple’s product suite, in particular xCurrent andxVia. He’ll work across teams to support the company’s recent pilot efforts for xRapid, helping to more quickly transition financial institutions into full-fledged production.

“Building a global network of financial institutions who are using blockchain-based solutions is no small task, but we have the technical folks at Ripple to make it a reality. We’re also going to hire a lot more of them,” said Schwartz. “As CTO, I’ll get to lead a world-class group of engineers, scientists and business executives, which is what makes coming to work every day so exciting. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Schwartz’s team will also be responsible for contributing to the further decentralization of the XRP Ledger — an ongoing process that started at the Ledger’s inception and continues to be an important focus across the XRP community. He is taking over for Stefan Thomas, who recently left to start Coil, a micropayments company building applications on top of the XRP Ledger.

With more than 20 years of experience in banking and technology, she will focus on driving new, strategic partnerships for Ripple across the global financial services industry.

Van Dyke has led global teams within the traditional financial services industry — most notably at Mastercard and Citibank — where she learned how sophisticated risk mitigation and compliance frameworks enable more reliable, timely services. Most recently, at Facebook, she led the Global Financial Services team, and saw first hand the power of technology in connecting people around the world to financial services they never had before.

“By reducing friction and delivering better options for individuals and businesses, Ripple offers a compelling opportunity to be a transformative force for good in the world of money movement,” said Van Dyke. “It’s an exciting time in the industry — and I feel very fortunate to be a part of creating the next generation of global payments.”