Ripple’s General Counsel Leaves Startup
In the latest cryptocurrency news, the general counsel of Ripple, Brynly Llyr, has decided to leave the blockchain payments startup. A spokesperson confirmed the news on Friday, though her departure was already in the rumor mill.
A ‘Mutual Decision’
Llyr first joined the firm in 2016 as a top legal officer. Since then, she has played a vital role for two and a half years. Although no reason was given for her untimely departure, a spokesperson of Ripple suggested that the stepping out was a “mutual decision” between her and the startup.
The spokesperson was quoted saying, “We’re grateful to all that she did to help build an incredible team that will continue the work they’ve been focused on for the past year and beyond.”
It further stated, “We wish Brynly all the best in her next endeavor and the team here at Ripple looks forward to the next chapter where we will continue to pave the way in this ever-evolving and unchartered industry.”
Before joining the blockchain payments company, Llyr was known for providing help to fintech companies. She also led litigation teams and partnered on matters that involve commercial deals (i.e. acquisitions and mergers) and intellectual property protection. PayPal and eBay were two of her biggest clients as stated in her company biography.
Fighting Lawsuits
Apparently, the news comes as Ripple continues to battle various class-action lawsuits. Most of these reportedly claim that the XRP token is merely a security distributed directly by the company.
In previous reports, there were a number of investors suing the company, as they blame Ripple for dropping the price of the digital currency over the last year. As expected, Ripple tried to counter the claims and clarified the infamous issue.
In order to defend the aforementioned claims, Ripple included some legal heavyweights to its side. One of these includes the titular Mary Jo White, who was the former SEC chair.
Interestingly, the company managed to achieve triumph over a number of procedural victories, with one district court-level case said to be voluntarily dismissed. There were also two superior lower court-level cases being consolidated late last week.
The only catch, however, is that the company has yet to acquire either a hearing or trial on the underlying claims for any of the ongoing suits. It is interesting to see just how much impact these will bring to the startup.