Ripple, a leader in global cross-border payments, has revealed plans to acquire Standard Custody & Trust Co., a New York-based crypto custodian firm.

According to an announcement by Ripple on Tuesday, the acquisition aims to secure a New York trust charter, expanding Ripple’s U.S. regulatory licensing and enabling the company to offer a broader range of services.

“Today we’re excited to announce that Ripple has signed a deal to acquire Standard Custody, strengthening our product offerings and adding to our growing portfolio of regulatory licenses around the world,” the company stated.

Notably, Ripple’s acquisition of Standard Custody & Trust, still subject to approval from the New York Department of Financial Services, will add a crypto custody and settlement business to Ripple’s portfolio. This acquisition will allow Ripple’s customers to maintain custody with the company instead of relying on external partners.

Monica Long, Ripple’s President, highlighted the company’s long-term vision for the acquisition, emphasizing the potential for offering more financial products and services to institutional customers. According to her, the deal will enable Ripple to offer a wider range of infrastructure pieces to financial institutions, allowing them to benefit from blockchain technology.

“As we integrate custody more deeply into Ripple’s products, we see clear synergies with Standard Custody to complement our payments and custody offerings – all in service of being a one-stop shop to move, convert and store value with blockchain and crypto.” Tweeted Long.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse also expressed his excitement about the acquisition, stating via a tweet that it would enable Ripple to “improve existing product” offerings and “explore new products” and use cases in a fully compliant manner.

Notably, Ripple’s latest acquisition plan comes after it purchased custodial giant Metaco last year, demonstrating its commitment to the cryptocurrency custody sector. Ripple, which facilitates payments in 70 countries worldwide, has also established partnerships with top-tier banks such as HSBC, Zodiac Custody, and BBVA.

The company, also battling a long-drawn lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over the alleged sale of XRP securities, has been actively seeking U.S. money transmission licensing, securing nearly 40 U.S. money transmitter licenses.

Meanwhile, despite Ripple’s expansion and growth, XRP’s price has remained suppressed. Following the acquisition announcement, XRP enthusiasts expressed their frustrations to Garlinghouse, urging action for XRP’s poor price performance. One user, “MackAttackXRP”, commented on XRP, which has been structurally weak for the past half or so decade, prompting many investors to switch to better-performing coins with more utility than XRP.

“This is not enough Brad, sorry to say, but something needs to be done about the XRP price, it has already been structurally too low for the past 5 years,” tweeted the investor.

It is unclear whether XRP’s price will increase in the long run as it depends on adoption. Still, as Ripple is positioning itself for this surge in adoption and XRP usage, it is important to remember that XRP has advanced significantly since its launch.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ February 13, 2024 8:00 pm