Ripple, the leader in enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions, today announced a new office in Toronto that will serve as a key engineering hub. The new office will be Ripple’s first in Canada, supporting its continued growth in North America and beyond. The company plans to initially hire 50 engineers in Toronto with the goal to expand to hundreds of blockchain software engineers including applied machine learning scientists, data scientists, and product managers.
“Crypto and blockchain present an incredible opportunity for engineers to tackle difficult problems, with the potential for these solutions to impact the movement of value around the world,” says Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple. “Nearly every financial institution is coming up with its crypto strategy to take advantage of this technology that will underpin our future global financial systems. Crypto is one of the most thrilling industries to work in, so it’s no surprise that talent is leaving tech incumbents and traditional finance to enter this space. We are continuing to scale and invest in our business by expanding our presence globally with our first office in Toronto.”
While others in the industry have announced layoffs and hiring freezes, Ripple’s key priority remains bringing on world-class talent that will help us innovate and serve our customers for years to come. In the past year alone, Ripple opened new offices in key cities including Miami and Dublin and has plans to hire hundreds of people globally in 2022.
“At Ripple, we are a team of missionaries building breakthrough crypto solutions to unlock greater economic opportunities for everyone, everywhere, and that creates an exciting atmosphere,” says Devraj Varadhan, SVP of Engineering at Ripple. “We are excited to tap into Toronto’s technical talent pool and add builders to address the unmet customer needs on behalf of global customers – our teams here will play a key role in driving Ripple’s innovations, ranging from blockchain protocol development and decentralized applications to machine learning and payment solutions.”
The opening of the Toronto office further solidifies Ripple’s commitment to a region that is already a prominent tech hub. Ripple will tap into the local talent pool and recruit top engineers to foster crypto innovation in Toronto.
“I’m thrilled that Ripple is putting down roots in Toronto where we know the company will be able to benefit from the highly skilled technical talent, booming ecosystem, and competitive economic advantages the Region offers,” said John Tory, Mayor of the City of Toronto. “Ripple’s globally-renowned, innovative technology, and first-mover attitude will be a perfect fit for the diverse, entrepreneurial, and committed spirit of Toronto.”
Ripple has strong ties to the Toronto community through its University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) and working with top-tier universities and colleges such as the University of Waterloo and Toronto Metropolitan University. Together, Ripple and UBRI support leading research in several key areas of blockchain and crypto technology, and provide students with opportunities to acquire strong technical skills.
“Through our UBRI partnership, graduate students are trained on the latest in blockchain and its underlying fundamentals so they’re well-prepared to enter the workforce,” says Professor Anwar Hasan of the University of Waterloo. “Ripple and UBRI have played an important role in helping to foster talent within the University and with the opening of its Toronto office, we’re excited to see our graduates continue their blockchain journey–a city with a fast-growing tech scene.”
“The Cybersecurity Research Lab of Toronto Metropolitan University is helping to accelerate breakthrough innovations in blockchain and digital payments happening within Toronto through its partnership with UBRI,” says Dr. Atefeh (Atty) Mashatan, Canada Research Chair and Associate Professor, Information Technology Management of Toronto Metropolitan University. “Ripple has shown that it’s committed to providing the tools and resources needed to lead the way in these efforts, and we look forward to seeing the impact that the opening of its Toronto office will have on the continuation of these innovations in the future.”