In a recent press release, Ripple, has just announced the acquisition of Standard Custody & Trust Company. The strategic move shows the company’s commitment to legal compliance once more and increases its current product with the ability to tap into new opportunities in the market.
Paradigm shift towards purchase of Standard Custody is being fuelled by increased institutional interest in crypto and blockchain technology, which has been enabled by the availability of mature and high-security products and solutions meeting set regulatory standards.
Standard Custody’s limited-purpose trust charter and money transmitter licenses will become part of Ripple’s portfolio of regulatory licenses, which already includes the New York BitLicense, nearly 40 money transmitter licenses across the United States, a Major Payment Institution License from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and Virtual Asset Service Provider registration from the Central Bank of Ireland.
Ripple President Monica Long underscored the firm’s commitment to provide access to enterprise in making use of blockchain across a wide array of financial use cases. She stated:
By expanding our licenses portfolio and making smart acquisitions, Ripple is well-positioned to take advantage of current market opportunities and further strengthen our crypto infrastructure solutions.
Ripple’s Global Momentum & Strategic Partnerships
The global momentum of Ripple remained in high gear by enlisting in its fold Standard Custody after last year’s acquisition of Metaco, a custody solution favored by banks worldwide. The firm had also announced custody partnerships with leading banks like HSBC, BBVA, and Zodia Custody, while its Ripple Payments offering was expanding into new territories such as Africa.
Standard Custody CEO Jack McDonald said in a statement about the collaboration that he was excited about it because of the company’s expertise, its relationships with financial institutions, and its strong product in payments and custody. “Together with Ripple, we will continue to innovate and expand our leadership position in providing crypto infrastructure,” McDonald said.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and standard closing conditions and is anticipated to close by the second quarter of 2022. TD Cowen is serving as the exclusive financial advisor to PolySign.
As previously reported by Tronweekly, XRP adoption received a significant boost following an announcement by Flare Network, a key partner. Flare Network revealed plans to integrate XRP into its network through LayerCake, marking a significant milestone in facilitating the seamless entry of XRP into various ecosystems.
Despite these positive development, the current price of XRP is $0.521195, with a 24-hour trading volume of $1.94B and a market cap of $28.41B. The price went down by 1.60% in the last 24 hours.
This acquisition further solidifies Ripple’s leadership position in enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions, increasing its focus on regulation while growing the product offering to serve a wider customer base.