San Francisco-based Ripple Labs, a technology and financial services firm built around the XRP cryptocurrency, said it has agreed to acquire Metaco, a Swiss-based tokenization and digital asset custody provider, for US$250 million.
See related article: What is XRP and what is Ripple?
Fast facts
- The company said in a statement on Wednesday that Ripple will become the sole shareholder of Metaco, which will continue to operate as an independent brand and business unit led by founder and chief executive Adrien Treccani.
- Ripple said the acquisition will allow it to diversify into custody solutions and bring in additional revenue opportunities for the company.
- The acquisition will also enable Ripple to expand its enterprise offerings and provide customers with the technology to custody, issue and settle tokenized assets, the company said.
- Metaco will have access to Ripple’s customers, capital to address new demand and resources to deliver to banking and institutional clients.
- Ripple has been in a lawsuit with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) since December 2020 for allegedly selling US$1.3 billion in unregistered securities. It received a favorable decision on Tuesday after Judge Analisa Torres for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied the SEC’s motion to seal the controversial Hinman Speech documents from the public.
- The document refers to a speech by former SEC official William Hinman in June 2018, stating that the agency did not view Bitcoin or Ethereum as securities.
- The outcome of the legal tussle between the SEC and Ripple is expected to set a precedent for how regulators in the world’s biggest economy classify cryptocurrencies.
- XRP rose 5.48% to US$0.4452 at 8 p.m. in Hong Kong, according to CoinMarketCap data. It is the biggest gainer among the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies in the last 24 hours.
See related article: XRP lawsuit: Judge denies SEC motion to seal documents in win for Ripple
