Ripple has announced that it has acquired Metaco, a Swiss-based cryptocurrency custody company, for $250 million in cash and Ripple shares. With this move, Ripple is expanding its offerings as it will now be able to hold, issue and settle any type of tokenized asset.
“Metaco is a proven leader in institutional digital asset custody with an exceptional executive bench and a truly unparalleled client base,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in a statement. “Through the strength of our balance sheet and financial position, Ripple will continue to benefit us in areas critical to crypto infrastructure. The acquisition of Metaco is monumental to our growing product range and expanding global footprint.”
Ripple is the company behind the Ripple payment protocol that uses XRP as its native cryptocurrency. Ripple is partnering with traditional financial companies to integrate crypto and blockchain into their infrastructure. While Ripple and XRP are technically separate entities, Ripple still owns a large number of XRP tokens.
In 2020, Ripple and his team faced a lawsuit from the US Securities and Exchange Commission due to the nature of XRP token sales. The SEC argued that XRP is a security and should have been registered with the commission. It is worth noting that Ripple and a handful of executives generated more than $1.38 billion from the sale of the XRP token.
With today’s announcement, Ripple is diversifying its business. Metaco partners with institutional clients to provide them with various enterprise-grade solutions such as custody, orchestration, trading and more.
Following today’s transaction, Metaco will continue to operate as an independent brand and business unit, but Metaco now has a new owner. It could indicate that Ripple wants to use its balance sheet to build a portfolio of cryptocurrency-focused companies and bounce back from the SEC feud.
