Ben Melnicki of Ripple Becomes Co-chair of Blockchain Association

Benjamin Melnicki, currently the Americas Head of Regulatory Affairs at Ripple, is set to join the Blockchain Association as co-chair. Melnicki joined the San Francisco-based blockchain firm in October 2019.

Confirming the latest development, he tweeted:

“Looking forward to working with @BlockchainAssn and its members to provide regulatory clarity on this critical issue for the industry and market participants!”

Looking forward to working with @BlockchainAssn and its members to provide regulatory clarity on this critical issue for the industry and market participants! https://t.co/AEnI7kgRSx

— Ben Melnicki (@benmelnicki) November 22, 2019

Ripple has been calling for an international framework for its product suite and based on its quest to instill more clarity for the digital asset community, the firm enlarged its regulatory strategy in Washington DC and joined the Blockchain Association. The Blockchain Association is a not-for-profit organization comprising legal minds in the blockchain industry. It advances the adoption of blockchain technology worldwide.

Melnicki to Join Other Legal Minds

Before Melnicki’s appointment, Ripple has seen its members joining the Blockchain Association board, including Michelle Bond, the Global Head of Government Relations.

Melnicki is set to join other legal minds at the Association’s board, including Georgia Quinn, the General Counsel at CoinList. Others in the team are Ian Darrow, the Counsel at Protocol Labs and Craig Salm, the Legal Director at Grayscale.

Since its launch in 2018, the prime objective of the association is to engage legislators and regulators to classify certain digital tokens and exclude them from the U.S. securities laws. Besides, in its effort to instill regulatory clarity in the U.S. securities laws, the association formally introduced the Securities Law Working Group on just a few days ago (November 23).

The Blockchain Association further alluded to the duties of the working group. According to the association, “The Securities Law Working Group will catalyze and coordinate these ongoing efforts across the open blockchain industry. Property defining these assets is vital if the broader open blockchain economy is to grow to its full potential here in the United States.”

Ripple’s Milestones

Lately, Ripple has been making milestones, as evidenced by other companies joining its network. Recently, MercuryX—a multinational payment specialist, joined the RippleNet in a bid to speed up transfers, lower costs, and open new markets that were previously inaccessible due to higher charges.

Initially, the company targeted corporations and high-value individuals. However, due to lengthy processing time and high cost of using the existing cross-border settlement implied that they could only transfer large sums of money in order to remain profitable. To conquer the limitations, MercuryX decided to explore new approaches to global payments, leading to its association with Ripplenet.

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