Dive Brief:
- Kristina Campbell has departed from her role as top finance chief for cryptocurrency exchange Ripple to serve as CFO for women’s health focused enterprise Maven Clinic, according to an announcement posted Sunday on her LinkedIn profile.
- Campbell’s appointment as CFO of the New York City-based virtual clinic will be effective later this month, a Maven Clinic spokesperson confirmed to CFO Dive in an email.
- “We’re grateful for Kristina’s leadership over the past 2+ years and her contributions to the company as we’ve experienced strong global momentum, business growth and navigated regulatory headwinds,” Ripple said in a statement to CFO Dive. “We wish her all the best in her next chapter. Ripple remains in strong financial standing and is laser-focused on its continued success in key markets around the world.”
Dive Insight:
Ripple has launched a search for Campbell’s replacement as CFO, the company said.
Campbell, whose resume includes stints as CFO of PayNearMe as well as executive roles at Green Dot and Bain & Co., joined the cryptocurrency exchange in April 2021, according to her LinkedIn profile.
“Being able to come into this role now, at a time when the business is scaling and the tailwinds are tremendous, is a dream,” Campbell said on LinkedIn, of her move to Maven Clinic. “While healthcare is a complex, highly-regulated industry like fintech, it’s new to me. I’m excited to bring my experience to this mission-driven team and learn everything I can along the way.”
Campbell is leaving Ripple as it continues a three-year battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission over whether the exchange’s token, XRP, is a security. A federal judge ruled in July that XRP is an investment contract when it’s sold to institutional investors but not when it’s sold to the general public.
The SEC sued Ripple, as well as its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder Chris Larsen in December 2020, claiming they violated investor-protection laws by selling about $1.4 billion in XRP. Under the July ruling, $728.9 million of that total amounted to unregistered sales of securities, according to Reuters. But roughly $757 million did not, the Financial Times reported. The 2020 suit, though, put XRP in a price spiral; the coin lost 60% of its value the following week.
The SEC asked to appeal the July decision, asserting there was “substantial ground for differences of opinion,” and asking for a stay on the appeal because pending court cases would be affected by the appeal’s outcome. The SEC is engaged in legal battles with other crypto firms — Binance and Coinbase — over their own alleged securities violations.
But Judge Analisa Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York this month found no “substantial ground for difference of opinion,” adding the SEC failed to show there were “controlling question[s] of law.”
Torres set an April 23, 2024, trial date to address other aspects of Ripple’s case. The SEC may have an opportunity after that to appeal the case overall.
