denelle dixon

 

 

Denelle Dixon is the CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the growth and development of Stellar, an open-source blockchain network for money transfers from digital currency to fiat currency that enables cross-border transactions between any two currencies. The SDF was formed in 2014 by Jed McCaleb, co-founder of Ripple, and lawyer Joyce Kim, and it has since worked with major corporations such as IBM and Franklin Templeton, as well as several startups. The Stellar network uses blockchain technology to promote "global financial inclusion."

 

She was the chief operating officer and corporate secretary of Mozilla Corporation before joining the SDF in May 2019, having joined as an associate general attorney in September 2012. She formerly served as the director of US legal strategy for private equity company Terra Firma and as the senior legal director for Yahoo.

 

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis, as well as a Juris Doctorate from the University of California Hastings College of Law. She has also worked as a clerk at the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii in the past.

 

Early in January, Stellar announced its relationship with Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation, with whom it has inked a memorandum of understanding to establish a digital-assets ecosystem and national digital currency — aka, Ukraine's central bank digital currency. She is poised to assist the Stellar network is expanding and increasing user engagement, with a focus on financial inclusivity through blockchain technology.

 

The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's January declaration that federally chartered institutions can function as blockchain node validators and employ stablecoins is another trend to watch in 2021. With one bank-issued stablecoin currently on the network and traditional financial institutions increasingly looking to join the digital currency revolution, She appears to be steering Stellar in the direction of attracting even more banks following the OCC's regulatory approval.