A kickoff event was held for the opening of Ripple’s Toronto office on June 23rd, specifically to draw in top engineering talent. Building on existing University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) partnerships with two universities in the area, this office gives engineers an opportunity to work on real world problems using Ripple’s crypto and blockchain solutions.
Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO, spoke to the audience about expanding into Toronto, the excitement of the crypto industry, and his experience seeing the position of this technology shift from potential benefits to tangible solutions.
“I’m really excited to see that Ripple is growing in Toronto. I’ve been trying to get into this space for a long time,” said Shrey Khosla, a guest at the event.
But before introducing them to real world challenges, Ripple hosted a challenge of their own and collaborated with Toronto artist Bryan Espiritu on the visual design.
Attendees were invited to solve a cryptographic puzzle that evening using clues that were posted around the venue. Roman Akhtariev from Toronto was the first to finish the challenge and won a $5,000 CAD prize.
And it didn’t end there. An additional Decode/Code challenge was later released as an online 72-hour experience. The winner—Gregory Tretiakov from Toronto—earned $20,000 CAD as the first person to solve it. The challenge has since closed, but the impact on Toronto’s engineering community remains and is growing still.
“It isn’t just around the decentralization of assets. Talent is becoming decentralized,” explained Garlinghouse.
It’s a truly symbiotic relationship for Ripple and Toronto engineers—budding technical careers combined with the company’s infrastructure and resources will move the industry closer to achieving the Internet of Value. Hiring 50 new people in Toronto by the end of the year, and a subsequent 100 to 200 in the years ahead, is one of Ripple’s top priorities.
“Only when we have a diverse culture can we actually evolve products that are borderless,” notes Injae Lee, Senior Engineering Manager of RippleX.
It only makes sense that as a global solutions company, Ripple is fostering talent from around the world to further connect a variety of insights, leadership, and innovation to propel the industry forward.
Interested in getting started on a career in crypto and blockchain? Apply to Ripple today.
