Ripple has hired Joseph Thompson, senior vice president and head of treasury at the London Metal Exchange, to lead the company's tokenized real-world assets strategy. Thompson departs LME on August 31, 2026, according to an announcement made August 29, 2026.
LME processes trillions of dollars in physical commodity contracts annually and operates one of the oldest treasury functions in global finance. Thompson's move to a crypto firm comes as legacy financial infrastructure embraces blockchain rails for commodity and asset settlement.
Ripple has long positioned itself as the infrastructure layer for institutional payments and asset issuance, building on its core XRP Ledger network and the Ripple USD stablecoin launched in 2023. The company has pursued regulatory clarity in the United States following its December 2023 partial legal victory against the SEC over whether XRP is a security. That ruling narrowed but did not eliminate the agency's enforcement posture on the token itself.
Thompson's background in commodity treasury operations at LME places him at the intersection of two institutional forces reshaping asset markets. Commodity exchanges and central counterparties have begun pilot programs for tokenized settlement, with the London Stock Exchange exploring digital asset infrastructure and major derivatives platforms testing blockchain-native clearing.
No official statement from Ripple has been published as of August 29, 2026. The hire follows Ripple's expansion into the tokenized securities market through partnerships with asset managers and financial infrastructure firms throughout 2025 and 2026.
Thompson's move from a 150-year-old commodity exchange to a blockchain platform follows institutional finance recruiting talent from traditional settlement layers. His hire also places pressure on legacy exchanges to accelerate their own digital asset capabilities or risk losing key strategists to platforms native to blockchain infrastructure.
The timing of Thompson's departure, less than 48 hours before his effective exit, indicates the hire was negotiated at senior levels and moved quickly. If Ripple announces formal product roadmap or enterprise partnership details involving tokenized commodities or asset settlement within the next quarter, Thompson's strategic priorities will have begun to materialize.
