'''Dante Disparte''' is an American business executive, security advisor,<ref name=puertorico>{{cite web |title=Blockchain May Soon Be Helping Puerto Rico Keep the Lights On |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/blockchain-may-soon-be-helping-puerto-rico-keep-the-lights-on |website=www.bloomberglaw.com |publisher=[[Bloomberg Law]] |access-date=20 April 2026}}</ref> and author.<ref name=springer/> Currently [[chief strategy officer]] and head of global policy at [[Circle Internet Group]],<ref name=hires>{{cite web |title=Crypto Firm Circle Hires Disparte From Facebook-Backed Diem|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-12/crypto-firm-circle-hires-disparte-from-facebook-backed-diem |website=www.bloomberg.com |publisher=[[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg]] |access-date=20 April 2026}}</ref> until 2021<ref name=loss/> he was deputy chairman of the [[Libra Association]], a [[Facebook]]-led cryptocurrency project.<ref name=weeks/> At Libra he was also chief strategy officer and an executive vice president.<ref name=wa/> He is also member of groups such as the [[Council on Foreign Relations]] and [[The Atlantic Council]].<ref name=affiliations>https://dantedisparte.com/affiliations/</ref>
==Education== Born in [[Puerto Rico]],<ref name=islan>{{cite web |title=Puerto Rico: Will Maria make island more of an American priority? |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2017/0926/Puerto-Rico-Will-Maria-make-island-more-of-an-American-priority |website=www.csmonitor.com |publisher=[[Christian Science Monitor]] |access-date=20 April 2026}}</ref> Dante Disparte graduated from [[Goucher College]] with a B.A. in [[intercultural studies|international and intercultural studies]], and from [[NYU Stern]] with an [[MSc]] in [[risk management]]. He also graduated from [[Harvard Business School]].<ref name=asec>{{cite web |title=Board of Directors |url=https://www.americansecurityproject.org/about/board-of-directors/ |website= |publisher=[[American Security Project]] |access-date=20 April 2026}}</ref> ==Career== In 2013 he joined the [[American Security Project]], a think tank founded by [[John Kerry]] and [[Chuck Hagel]].<ref name=goucher>{{cite web |title=Dante Disparte '00 |url=https://www.goucher.edu/prepare/success-stories/dante-disparte |website=www.goucher.com |publisher=[[Goucher College]] |access-date=20 April 2026}}</ref> He became chairman of the group's [[American Security Project|Business Council for American Security]].<ref name=islan/> He was a member of [[FEMA]]'s National Advisory Council,<ref name=npr/> before the entirety of the council was dismissed in early 2025 by the [[Trump administration]].<ref>{{cite web |title=National Advisory Council Members |url=https://www.fema.gov/about/offices/national-advisory-council/members |website=www.fema.gov |publisher=[[FEMA]] |access-date=20 April 2026}}</ref>
Early in his career he founded Risk Cooperative, becoming chairman.<ref name=npr>{{cite web |title=Are We Ready For The Next One? The Striking Pandemic Warnings That Were Ignored |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/03/15/977534325/are-we-ready-for-the-next-one-the-striking-pandemic-warnings-that-were-ignored |website=www.npr.org |publisher=[[NPR]] |access-date=20 April 2026}}</ref> In 2016, he co-authored ''Global Risk Agility and Decision Making: Organizational Resilience in the Era of Man-Made Risk'', which was published through [[Palgrave Macmillan]].<ref name=springer>{{cite book |last=Disparte |first=Dante |date=2016 |title=Global Risk Agility and Decision Making |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/978-1-349-94860-4 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |isbn= |access-date=20 April 2026}}</ref> ''Bloomberg'' in 2018 called him a "grid resiliency and security expert." Power Ledger, a [[blockchain]] technology company, hired him in May 2018 to lead its efforts to restore the power grid in Puerto Rico after [[Hurricane Irma]] and [[Hurricane Maria]].<ref name=puertorico/> ===Diem and Circle=== Dante was involved in the [[Diem (digital currency)|Libra Association]], a blockchain group supported by [[Facebook]].<ref name=appease/> Weeks before the project's public announcement in June 2019, he was named the Libra Association's head of policy and communications.<ref name=weeks/> After the announcement, the Libra Association's proposed [[stablecoin]] faced a "beating from politicians"<ref name=retain/> on issues such as potentially undermining local currencies.<ref name=appease/> The backlash led to a ban in Europe,<ref name=retain/> and in early October 2019, [[PayPal]], one of 28 founding members, dropped from the association, followed by others such as [[eBay]] and [[Visa Inc.|Visa]]. After the exodus, on October 14, 2019, Disparte was elected deputy chairperson of the Libra Council, which governs the association.<ref name=weeks>{{cite web |title=Would you trust this man with your money? |url=https://www.wired.com/story/libra-cryptocurrency-facebook/ |website=www.wired.com |publisher=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |access-date=20 April 2026}}</ref>
While retaining his role as head of policy and communications,<ref name=retain>{{cite web |title=Libra vows to fight on despite political backlash |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/facebook-libra-virtual-currency-vows-to-fight-on-despite-political-backlash/ |website=www.politico.eu |publisher=[[Politico]] |access-date=20 April 2026}}</ref> he was also named an executive vice president.<ref name=wa>{{cite web |title=Crypto goes to Washington |url=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-money/2021/04/13/crypto-goes-to-washington-794628 |website=www.website.com |publisher=[[Politico]] |access-date=20 April 2026}}</ref> Under Disparte, the association began redesigning the digital coin to "appease skeptical regulators."<ref name=appease>{{cite web |title=Facebook-backed Libra plans multiple single-currency coins |url=https://fortune.com/2020/04/16/facebook-libra-multiple-single-currency-coins/ |website=fortune.com |publisher=Fortune, Bloomberg|access-date=20 April 2026}}</ref>
After being renamed the Diem Association,<ref name=wa/> the project was ready to test its Diem stablecoin in the spring of 2021, and on the brink of approval from the [[Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority]] (Finma). However, the final approval needed by the [[US Treasury]] was refused, with the [[Biden administration]] requesting a delay to examine the project further. Writes ''The Financial Times,'' Disparte "quit in frustration," and the Diem project was cancelled in January 2022.<ref name=kiran>{{cite web |title=Facebook Libra: the inside story of how the company's cryptocurrency dream died |url=https://www.ft.com/content/a88fb591-72d5-4b6b-bb5d-223adfb893f3#selection-2539.0-2551.427 |website=www.ft.com |publisher=[[Financial Times]] |access-date=19 April 2026}}</ref>
In April 2021, he was hired as [[chief strategy officer]] and head of global policy at [[Circle Internet Group]], a stablecoin company.<ref name=loss>{{cite web |title=Circle adds Facebook Diem vet to bring its stablecoin into mainstream |url=https://www.americanbanker.com/payments/news/circle-adds-facebook-diem-vet-to-bring-its-stablecoin-into-mainstream |website=www.americanbanker.com |publisher=[[American Banker]] |access-date=20 April 2026}}</ref><ref name=hires/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Disparte, Dante}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Goucher College alumni]] [[Category:New York University alumni]] [[Category:Puerto Rican business executives]]