Ripple has hired London Metal Exchange treasury executive Joseph Thompson for its trading and markets team, bringing more than 15 years of financial-services experience across exchanges, clearing and institutional liquidity to the company's growing tokenization business.
From Metals Exchange to Crypto Tokenization
Thompson currently serves as senior vice president and head of treasury at the LME. He will leave the exchange on Aug. 31 after nearly a decade. His work at Ripple will focus on tokenization strategy and delivery. Ripple has not disclosed his exact title, starting date or reporting structure.
Before joining the LME, Thompson held liquidity management and funding responsibilities within Deutsche Bank's group treasury division. He also worked in liquidity risk at ICAP and in collateral and liquidity management risk at London Clearing House. He holds certification from the Association of Corporate Treasurers.
Ripple Builds Tokenization Infrastructure
Ripple has expanded beyond cross-border payments into custody, stablecoins, treasury technology, tokenized assets and institutional trading. Its tokenization business supports the issuance and management of funds, bonds, securities and other real-world assets. The company recently invested in ZILO and Licuido, adding token issuance and collateral tools to its capital-markets infrastructure.
Thompson's experience at a commodities exchange may assist that strategy. However, Ripple has not announced a commodity tokenization product connected to the appointment. The hire confirms a personnel addition to Ripple's tokenization operations, not an agreement between Ripple and the LME.
Ripple Prime Expands Into Traditional Markets
The appointment follows Ripple Prime's launch of a Delta One business for institutional investors. The service allows clients to execute total return swaps linked to U.S.-listed equities, equity indices and digital assets. Clients can cross-margin exposure across foreign exchange, derivatives, fixed income, equities and digital assets through a single counterparty.
Ripple Prime came from the company's $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road, which closed in October 2025. The brokerage now clears more than $3 trillion in annual trades for over 300 institutional clients. Its participation in a DTCC working group focused on tokenized securities does not place XRP inside the DTCC's clearing system.
Further disclosures will be needed to establish which tokenization products, markets or institutional clients fall under Thompson's responsibilities. The appointment comes as Ripple connects tokenized-asset infrastructure with trading, financing, clearing and collateral services.
