Ripple, the company behind XRP, announced the acquisition of Icelandic crypto-trading firm Algrim. The 6-person Icelandic company will help Ripple gain a foothold in Europe.
Icelandic crypto trading company joins Ripple
Ripple has been acquiring companies left and right in order to widen its grip over the international market. The latest company acquired by the blockchain giant is Algrim, a cryptocurrency trading platform based in Iceland.
The 6-person team will play an “integral role” in Ripple’s ongoing On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) product, the company said in a blog post.
“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’re already experiencing with On-Demand Liquidity,” said Christopher Kanaan, SVP of engineering at Ripple.
Algrim is the latest company to join Ripple’s acquisition streak—last week, Ripple announced the acqui-hire of payment platform Logos, adding eight engineers to its Xpring team.
Ripple’s latest acqui-hire marks the beginning of European expansion
Kanaan said that Ripple is committed to sourcing talent from across the globe, adding that the acquisition of the Algrim engineering team is a successful example of that. Algrim has been developing its crypto trading platform for the past two years and has integrated it into over 30 markets.
Algrim went on to develop crypto exchanges with significant experience in building traditional trading platforms. The switch to crypto came after the “Big Heist” of 2017, when the company lost hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of crypto mining equipment.
Ripple plans on utilizing both the company’s talent and its physical location. With a physical presence in New York, London, San Francisco, Mumbai, Singapore, Sydney, and São Paulo, Ripple’s foray into Iceland will help the company expand its presence in Europe.
It’s hard to say how much of a long-term effect the news about Ripple’s expansion will have on XRP. While the coin has been up 7.7 percent on Sept. 30, it has been steadily dropping in price since the beginning of the year.
The post Ripple acquires Icelandic crypto exchange to expand presence in Europe appeared first on CryptoSlate.
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