Ripple's Head of Information Security Leaves for Token Startup

Ripple's head of information security is leaving the company.

Revealed exclusively to CoinDesk, Sujay Jaladi is departing the San Francisco-based firm, which is best known for its role in developing XRP, the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Jaladi is joining Harbor, a startup that provides a compliance platform for issuers of private securities housed as tokens on the blockchain.

The company's R-Token standard (the R stands for "regulated") is compatible with ethereum's popular ERC-20 token framework, and, according to Harbor's white paper, can be used to tokenize interests in real estate, limited partnerships, fine art and other assets areas.

Harbor raised $28 million in April in a strategic funding round led by Founders Fund with participation by Andreessen Horowitz and Pantera Capital.

"Ripple is a great company with a bright future," Jaladi said when asked why he's leaving the company. "I am really excited about this opportunity with Harbor and think I can have a big impact on the company's success and help accelerate many of its key initiatives."

Jaladi joined Ripple in May 2017, according to his LinkedIn page. He declined to say who would take over his role at the firm. Ripple's director of corporate communications didn't say who Jaladi's replacement would be, but remarked: "We have a strong security team led by [SVP of engineering Christopher] Kanaan, just as it's always been."

Describing his new role to CoinDesk, Jaladi explained:

"I am responsible for the overall security strategy and program. This includes establishing processes and procedures across the company and the platform to ensure the protection of customer data."

The role is similar to the one he held at Ripple, he explained, "in the sense that the responsibility is to build a comprehensive security program that protects the company and its customers from threats, as well as to ensure compliance with all appropriate regulations."

He added: "Harbor is in a highly regulated space, which makes the role even more critical."

In a statement, Harbor's CTO and co-founder Bob Remeika remarked that "Sujay has the perfect blend of fintech and blockchain experience to accelerate our efforts to build a trusted platform for issuers, investors and regulators."

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly reported that Jaladi was Ripple's chief information security officer. He served as Ripple's head of information security, and CoinDesk regrets the error.

Image courtesy of Sujay Jaladi