Ripple Acquires Icelandic Bitcoin Trading Firm, Algrim
Ripple, a San Francisco-based distributed ledger technology (DLT) project in charge of XRP, the third-largest cryptocurrency in existence by market cap, has acquired Algrim, an Icelandic cryptocurrency trading platform. The deal will enable Ripple to have a presence in Northern Europe, according to a blog post, September 30, 2019.
Ripple Expands
As stated in the post, Ripple, a firm focused on creating cross-border payment solutions, has purchased Iceland’s Algrim cryptocurrency trading venue for an undisclosed amount as part of plans to expand its presence in Europe.
The deal will also enable Ripple to add Algrim’s existing team of engineers to its platform and the team has made it clear that Algrim’s engineering team will have a huge role to play in the development Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) solution, which is aimed at providing financial institutions with reliable, super fast and cost-efficient transactions.
With the new “acqui-hire,” Ripple says Iceland will now become one of is engineering hubs, with more blockchain developers in the region to be on-boarded shortly.
Commenting on the deal, Christopher Kanaan, SVP Engineering at Ripple reiterated that the addition of Algrim’s engineering experts into the team will boost the firm’s momentum.
“With built-in expertise in trading and exchanges, the addition of Algrim’s engineering talent to our team will be instrumental in continuing the momentum we are already experiencing with On-Demand Liquidity[…]”
Algrim Brings More Experience
Established in 2010, Algrim is led by Dadi Armannsson, an industry executive with several years of experience; Ripple firmly believes that this new team of engineers will provide it with valuable expertise needed to build robust trading platforms.
After falling victim to a massive heist that saw bad actors cart away millions of crypto mining rigs earlier in 2010, Algrim decided to start developing cryptocurrency trading infrastructures.
Reportedly, Algrim has achieved significant success in its new venture, integrating more than 30 markets.
Commenting on the successful deal, Algrim CEO, Dadi Armannsson described the firm’s decision to become part of Ripple as a natural fit, adding that both projects share a common goal to promote the broader adoption of blockchain technology.
“We are big believers in XRP and the XRP Ledger, and eager to help build the future of payments at Ripple,”
At press time, the price of XRP is up by 7.70 percent at $0.257075, with a market cap of $11.07 billion as seen on CoinMarketCap.
Despite trying its best to promote crypto and DLT adoption, Ripple has also had its fair share of challenges in recent times.
