Ripple, the enabler of enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions, announced that it has agreed to acquire Standard Custody & Trust Company, an enterprise-grade regulated platform for digital assets. The terms of the transaction were not immediately available.
This move further underscores Ripple’s commitment “to regulatory compliance and enables the company to strengthen its existing product offerings, as well as explore new, complementary products.”
The increase in institutional adoption of crypto and blockchain is “a result of more mature and highly secure products in the market that are fully regulated and compliant.”
With this acquisition, Standard Custody’s limited purpose trust charter and its money transmitter licenses will “contribute to Ripple’s growing portfolio of regulatory licenses.”
Ripple and its subsidiaries collectively “hold a New York BitLicense, nearly 40 money transmitter licenses across the U.S., a Major Payment Institution License from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and a Virtual Asset Service Provider registration with the Central Bank of Ireland.”
Monica Long, Ripple President, said:
“Ripple and Standard Custody are dedicated to enabling enterprises to reap the benefits of blockchain across a host of financial use cases building institutional-grade solutions to tokenize, store, move, and exchange value. By expanding our licenses portfolio and making smart acquisitions, Ripple is well-positioned to take advantage of the current market opportunities and further strengthen our crypto infrastructure solutions. We will continue to leverage our strong financial standing to expand our product offerings, support new initiatives on the product roadmap and serve a broader segment of customers.”
Ripple’s global momentum remains steady, “serving enterprises globally. The acquisition of Standard Custody follows last year’s acquisition of Metaco, a custody solution preferred by banks around the world.”
Recently, Ripple announced its custody partnerships with various banks, “such as HSBC, BBVA and Zodia Custody, and expansion to new territories for its Ripple Payments offering.”
Doubling down on its core businesses in Payments and Custody, Ripple supports live commercial custody offerings “in 20 regulatory jurisdictions, and payments into 70 countries around the world.”
Jack McDonald, Standard Custody CEO, said:
“Standard Custody provides financial institutions with the confidence and platform to safeguard their digital assets. Ripple continues to lead the industry with its deep crypto expertise, relationships with financial institutions and strong product offerings, across both payments and custody. Together with Ripple, we will further innovate and extend our leadership position in providing crypto infrastructure.”
The closing of the transaction is subject “to regulatory approval and standard closing conditions. TD Cowen served as exclusive financial advisor to PolySign.”