The chief financial officer of the major cryptocurrency company Ripple has abruptly resigned from her role amid an ongoing high-stakes lawsuit filed against the firm by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Kristina Campbell, who had served as CFO at Ripple for over 2 years, announced she is leaving the embattled crypto payments company to take on a comparable position as CFO of the virtual healthcare startup Maven Clinic.
The SEC filed its lawsuit against Ripple in December 2020, alleging the company illegally raised billions of dollars through unregistered sales of its native XRP cryptocurrency token. The SEC argued this violated U.S. securities laws.
Prior to becoming CFO at Ripple in April 2021, Campbell was CFO for over 4 years at the digital payments platform PayNearMe. Her sudden departure from Ripple comes at a pivotal moment, as the company remains mired in intense litigation with the SEC over the regulatory status of XRP.
Recently, a federal judge issued a ruling stating that XRP was not a security when sold to regular retail investors. This was a major blow to the SEC’s case. However, the SEC has appealed the decision, and the high-stakes legal battle is slated to go to trial in 2024.
The timing coincides with several other critical crypto-related trials on the horizon, including criminal proceedings against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and a civil case against Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky. Crypto regulation is front and center.
While Campbell did not cite the lawsuit as a reason for exiting Ripple after a “memorable” stint, the move raises questions. Ripple’s CEO has encouraged startups to avoid the uncertain regulatory environment in the U.S. The CTO struck a more optimistic tone about improving crypto rules. Still, the lawsuit weighs heavily on Ripple as the XRP security question remains unresolved.
