Ripple’s Director of Engineering Leaves the Firm
- Ripple recently scored a huge win in its legal battle against the SEC after the regulator was ordered to release the Hinman document.
- Ripple has been at the forefront of providing improved access to cross-border payments.
Ripple Labs’ director of engineering, Nik Bougalis, has reportedly announced his departure from the company, ending a relationship that has spanned almost a decade. The blockchain developer will also not join a different project after his exit from Ripple.
Nik shared the news of his departure in a recent tweet where he wrote,
My decade-long journey at Ripple has been a fantastic (if exhausting and all-consuming) one. I got to work on a project that I love, towards a goal I believe in. But that journey will be coming to an end in a few weeks.
Nik said he doesn’t believe his departure will affect Ripple’s growth. The cryptographer expects the company to thrive as it always has. He said
Its long-term health and success isn’t predicated on any one person. I’m confident that it will be just fine, thanks to talented and passionate individuals who contribute and participate, each in their own way.
Nik is one of crypto’s most renowned developers. He has a background in both software engineering and cryptography. He spent most of his time at Ripple working on open-source code projects for the XRPL, or XRP Ledger. He also worked on the introduction of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to XRPL. The project is scheduled to go live in November.
It’s been a common trend for crypto developers to move from well-established companies to smaller, and more engaging projects in industries such as DeFi, NFTs, and gaming. However, the bear market has not allowed for such transitions.
Some top projects executives have instead left their roles, including OpenSea’s Chief Financial Officer Brian Roberts and Polkadot co-founder Gavin Wood. Other notable figures to have left top firms include Kraken CEO Jesse Powell and FTX US president Brett Harrison.
What’s Going on at Ripple?
Ripple recently witnessed a significant moment in its prolonged legal dispute with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over potential securities violations involving XRP. Ripple chief counsel Stuart Alderoty recently revealed that the company had finally obtained crucial documents that might considerably improve its case against the SEC.
The documents reportedly involve William Hinman, a former SEC division director, who spoke about the regulatory status of ether in a 2018 speech. However, the SEC has worked hard to keep the document private since the dispute began.
Ripple has been working to provide better cross-border payment options over the past few years. These systems have allowed financial institutions to transfer and receive payments across borders easily.
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