TL;DR Breakdown
- Ripple appoints new executive to foster its Southeast Asian expansion.
- Firm’s expansion unaffected by SEC lawsuit.
Embattled Ripple has taken a decisive step to ignore its crisis with the Security and Exchange Commission to focus on the firm’s other plans. The firm has appointed a new executive to lead its expansion in the Southeast Asia region.
The payment firm announced that they have appointed Brooks Entwistle, who has previously served as Uber’s chief business officer, to lead their growth and navigate regulatory policies throughout Asia pacific. Entwistle will serve as managing director of the firm’s southeast Asia wing after also working as Goldman Sachs’ chairman for twenty years in the region. He would now lead the payment firm’s business activity in the continent.
The payment firm, through this appointment, has shown determination to forge ahead with its planned Asia expansion amidst its SEC lawsuit. Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of the payment firm, said early in March that the firm’s expansion was ongoing and the XRP lawsuit would not hinder its progress.
RippleNet, which is being introduced to Asia, is the firm’s proprietary network of financial institutions and payment processors. It does not depend on XRP, and its launch in Asia does not positively or negatively affect XRP.
Is Ripple trying to decentralize?
The payment firm’s general manager, Asheesh Birla, while reacting to Entwistle’s appointment, said it shows the need for region-specific knowledge as they negotiate with banks from different countries in Southeast Asia. It raises a question about Ripple’s plans towards decentralization.
Asheesh welcomed Brooks, noting that the Southeast Asia payment ecosystem is dynamic and complex. He said they are welcoming Brooks to charge their growth in the region.
The payment firm has been experiencing growth in Southeast Asia as regards its RippleNet financial network. They note that transactions in the region have hiked 10 times year-on-year in 2020. Ripple is known to have clients worldwide, with its offices scattered around the world in the UK, Mumbai, Singapore, and Dubai.
