Ripple Steps into Canada: Opens Hub in Toronto

Ripple Labs, the company behind the Ripple blockchain payment protocol and XRP-based products, opened an office in Toronto on Wednesday. It is the company’s first office in Canada that will serve as the key engineering hub.

According to an official announcement, the move comes as part of Ripple’s continued growth in the North American region. The San Francisco-based company plans to hire 50 new engineers in the area and eventually expand its team to hundreds of technical and managerial positions.

“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,” Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated.

Canada introduced programs intended to bring skilled employees into the country several years ago. Since then, Toronto settled as one of the serious candidates to become the third-biggest tech hub in the North American region apart from the Silicon Valley and New York, as it hosts numerous technology startups and a broad community of tech-related residents.

Additionally, Ripple has earlier collaborated with Canada’s University of Waterloo and Toronto Metropolitan University on a blockchain research initiative program and has hired its graduates for the new office.

Open for Growth

Opening in Toronto follows the company’s strategy to expand despite the severe market conditions. 

Earlier this year, Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse assured that Ripple Labs has prepared for the market downturns. According to him, the company has a significant balance sheet that allows for hiring new employees and exploring future mergers and acquisitions.

“We are looking a lot at different segments in crypto for growth. We’ve been investing in over 30 or 40 companies around the crypto ecosystem and we continue to look for opportunities to grow through external acquisitions also,” Garlinghouse then stated.

Last year Ripple opened offices in Miami and Dublin, Ireland to serve the growing European market. According to Ripple, the interest in blockchain-based payment services is increasingly growing in Europe, where nearly 60% of respondents at financial institutions in Europe are keen to use blockchain for payment transfers.

Ripple is currently on its way to settling an office in India’s Bengaluru province known as the major IT hub in the country. As seen from the company’s job listings, Ripple was hiring a senior project manager for engagement with the world’s central banks and various CBDC projects.