Washington lawyer hired by Ripple as manager of government relations

Ron Hammond recently announced on Twitter that Ripple has hired him as manager of government relations. Hammond is a former political advisor and formerly a legislative assistant to Republican representative Warren Davidson. He has been employed to improve Ripple’s lobbying efforts in Washington DC. While in Davidson’s team, Hammond led the drafting of the Token Taxonomy Act which seeks exemptions from federal securities laws for certain cryptocurrencies.

Ripple’s global head of government relations Michelle Bond welcomed Hammond to her team. She wrote on LinkedIn:

Thrilled to announce Ron William Hammond as Ripple’s Government Relations Manager. Ron brings a wealth of legislative and policy experience – excited to have him on board as we continue to work closely with lawmakers, regulators, and partners worldwide.

Ripple appointed Hammond as the firm started to deal with several lawsuits that claim the company is selling its XRP token as unlicensed security. These include a consolidated class-action lawsuit, where one of the plaintiffs Ryan Coffey alleges that Ripple created billions of XRP tokens "out of thin air" to make quick profits. It describes the move as a "never-ending initial coin offering."