On Wednesday, Ripple announced that it had made two new hires to its leadership team. David Schwartz has been promoted to chief technology officer (CTO), and Kahina Van Dyke has joined the company as senior vice president, Business, and Corporate Development.

According to the statement, the two new hires show both sides of Ripple. Schwartz has extensive experience in the blockchain and digital asset world, while Van Dyke’s experience is in the traditional banking and financial services industries.

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Ripple is a blockchain-based payment system. Due to the company’s success in being accepted by mainstream financial institutions, it also has its own cryptocurrency, XRP, which is often compared to Bitcoin.

David Schwartz

Schwartz, who served as Ripple’s chief cryptographer, will be responsible for the company’s technical strategy and development. He is replacing Stefan Thomas, who left the company to start a micropayments company, Coil.

Specifically, Schwartz will be focusing on improving the reach and volume of transactions across RippleNet, a decentralized global network of banks and payment providers using Ripple’s distributed financial technology.

This will be achieved by enhancing Ripple’s product suite such as xCurrent and xVia. In addition, Schwartz will also work across different teams to support the company’s pilot efforts for xRapid.

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Commenting on his new position, Schwartz said: “building a global network of financial institutions who are using blockchain-based solutions is no small task, but we have the technical folks at Ripple to make it a reality. We’re also going to hire a lot more of them.

“As CTO, I’ll get to lead a world-class group of engineers, scientists and business executives, which is what makes coming to work every day so exciting. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Kahina Van Dyke

On the other hand, Van Dyke brings her 20 years of experience in the banking and technology industries. Her focus will be on driving new, strategic partnerships for Ripple throughout the global financial services industry.

Throughout her career, Van Dyke has led global teams at Mastercard and Citibank, among others. Her most recent position was at Facebook, where she led the Global Financial Services team.

Van Dyke also commented on her new position, adding: “by reducing friction and delivering better options for individuals and businesses, Ripple offers a compelling opportunity to be a transformative force for good in the world of money movement.”

“It’s an exciting time in the industry — and I feel very fortunate to be a part of creating the next generation of global payments.”