San Francisco-based Ripple Labs, the startup behind the digital payment network Ripple, has appointed a former US State Department official as an advisor.

Speaking about her new role, Anja Manuel said she was excited to build on Ripple’s “impressive momentum” and looking forward to help it gain international traction.

“Ripple is uniquely designed to lower both the costs and risks inherent to domestic and cross-border payment systems,” she added.

The former US State Department official said: “It has the potential to expand the global economy through increased trade, and enables better, more transparent regulatory oversight of payments.”

Prior to her appointment at Ripple Labs, Manuel is credited with being part of the negotiating team for the US-India civilian nuclear accord as well as developing US policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan.

She also works alongside former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in her role as co-founder and partner of RiceHadleyGates LLC, a consulting firm.

Chris Larsen, Ripple Labs CEO and co-founder, said:

“I am excited to welcome Anja to the Ripple Labs team. Her advice will be key as we grow our international presence and Ripple’s adoption by financial institutions and payment networks across the world.”

Recent additions

The announcement follows the appointment of Susan Athey, a professor of economics at Stanford Graduate School of Business and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economics Policy Research to Ripple’s board of directors last year.

Gene Sperling, a former economic advisor to both former President Bill Clinton and current President Barack Obama also joined the decentralised payment network provider’s board of directors in January.

Busy period

The various notable appointments come after a seemingly busy period for Ripple Labs.

The California-based startup announced that CBW Bank and Cross River Bank had adopted its distributed open-source payment protocol in September last year, making them the first US institutions of their kind to do so.

More recently, Ripple Labs confirmed it had joined the International Payments Framework Association (IFPA).

The association provides rules, best practices and guidance on how to improve cross-border payments and includes the likes of Automated Clearing House (ACH) and SWIFT among its members.

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