San Francisco-based Fintech firm Ripple is reportedly planning to develop decentralized finance (DeFi) products based on XRP, the world’s third-largest digital currency by market capitalization.
Ripple has acquired the Logos Network, a decentralized payments platform. The American Fintech’s investment arm, Xpring, is planning to hire nine New York-based engineers.
Logos founder and CEO Michael Zochowski will serve as Xpring’s head of DeFi products.
Xpring’s management has not shared details regarding the value of the deal.
Logos previously helped develop a payments network that was inspired by the Bitcoin protocol, with a focus on building a secure, scalable, and efficient network.
Ethan Beard, senior vice president at Xpring, said that Logos’ employees will be helping Ripple develop XRP derivatives, loans, futures and forwards.
Beard remarked:
“We’re still [in the] early stages of figuring this out. We’ve made investments in DeFi companies in the past. We invested in Securitize and Dharma, but it’s now an area where we’re building.”
He added:
“[After launching in May 2018,] the vision at the heart of Xpring remains the same, but our approach to how we reach our north star has evolved. Our focus is two-fold: helping innovative blockchain projects grow through partnership and investment, and building the best crypto infrastructure to grow the XRP ecosystem.”
Earlier this month, Xpring participated in Coinme’s $1.5 million Series A-1 investment round, which also included contributions from the Blockchain Finance Fund.
Founded in 2014, Seattle-based Coinme provides Bitcoin kiosks and ATMs. The company will use the funds to acquire additional licensing in order to expand its business operations in the US and international markets.