Ripple Acquires the Digital Asset Platform Standard Custody & Trust Co.

Blockchain and crypto company Ripple has agreed to acquire Standard Custody & Trust Co., a regulated platform for digital assets, the company said Tuesday (Feb. 13).

The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition of Standard Custody & Trust further solidifies Ripple’s importance in the blockchain and crypto industry and expands its portfolio of regulatory licenses. With Standard Custody’s limited purpose trust charter and money transmitter licenses, Ripple’s growing regulatory licenses portfolio will contribute to its existing product offerings and allow the company to explore new complementary products.

Ripple President Monica Long highlighted the company’s commitment to enabling enterprises to leverage the benefits of blockchain technology across various financial use cases.

“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,” she said in a statement.

The acquisition of Standard Custody follows Ripple’s previous acquisition of Metaco, a custody solution available to banks globally. Ripple has also recently announced custody partnerships with banks such as HSBC, BBVA, and Zodia Custody, as well as expanding its Ripple Payments offering to new territories, including Africa. By doubling down on its core businesses in Payments and Custody, Ripple currently supports live commercial custody offerings in 20 regulatory jurisdictions and facilitates payments into 70 countries worldwide.

In a separate development, Ripple is preparing to expand its payments business in the United States. Currently, 90% of Ripple’s business is conducted outside of the U.S., but the company aims to strengthen its presence in its home market. W. Oliver Segovia, Ripple’s senior director and head of product marketing, revealed plans to unveil new product updates powered by its money transmitter licenses (MTLs) that cover the majority of U.S. states.

Ripple’s recent update to its cross-border payments solution, now called Ripple Payments, is a significant part of its expansion plans. The solution allows businesses to leverage blockchain technology and provides expanded access to Ripple’s global network of over 70 cryptocurrency and traditional payout markets. This expansion enables close to 100% global payout coverage through a single onboarding process. Additionally, Ripple is rolling out its solution to a wider customer base, including small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), as the company has secured more than 30 licenses across the United States.