- Ripple acquires Swiss startup Metaco for $250 million as part of its crypto custody expansion strategy for institutional investors.
- The transaction makes Ripple the sole shareholder of Metaco, which will continue to operate independently.
- Ripple seeks to offer custody, issuance and settlement services of tokenized assets to its clients.
San Francisco-based cryptocurrency company Ripple announced on Wednesday, May 17, the purchase of Swiss startup Metaco.
The acquisition of the escrow company was made, according to Ripple, for a value of 250 million dollars.
For Ripple, a company specializing in blockchain and payments with digital assets, The purchase is part of an expansion strategy in the provision of crypto custody services for institutional investors.
The company plans to start offer its clients tools to guard, issue and settle tokenized assets.
The transaction, which was financed by a combination of cash and Ripple shares, will make the US firm the sole shareholder of Metaco, but the company will continue to operate as an independent brand.
It was also said that its founder and CEO, Adrien Treccani, will remain at the helm.
Metaco is a leader in the custody of institutional digital assets and has a Swiss bank behind it as backing. Likewise, we know that this does not mean that everything is safe, taking into account the problems with crypto companies in recent months (just look at what happened with FTX) and with Swiss banks (the case of Credit Suisse).
Metaco, founded in Switzerland in 2015, serves a variety of clients, including global custodians, large banks, financial institutions, and other businesses.
As we explained before, its main service offer is crypto custody, based on the platform Harmonizewhich helps investors manage custody, trading, tokenization, staking, and smart contract management across the DeFi ecosystem.
The Swiss company has a presence in several markets, such as Switzerland, Germany, Turkey, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong and the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Ripple has customers in more than 50 countries and can offer its payment services in more than 75 markets globally.
Ripple Acquires Metaco
News of the acquisition comes with Ripple still locked in a years-long dispute with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
It must be remembered that in 2020, the SEC accused Ripple of raising $1.3 billion through the sale of the XRP token and also sued CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Christian Larsen.
However, Garlinghouse had signaled as early as May 2022 that the company had a “very strong balance sheet” and may pursue M&A opportunities, in an interview with CNBC.
Monica Long, the president of Ripple, said in a statement on Wednesday that Ripple “is in a unique position to address the institutional crypto custody market, which is expected to reach nearly $10 billion by 2030.”
Now read:
Tinder wants to compete with LinkedIn: launches Ripple
Now the fashionable virtual currency is Ripple
Shaquille O’Neal goes into hiding to avoid lawsuit for advertising FTX
