Ripple, a provider of enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions, has agreed to acquire Standard Custody & Trust, an enterprise-grade regulated platform for digital assets owned by PolySign.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Standard Custody & Trust operates as an institutional-grade custody and escrow platform designed for digital assets. Its platform incorporates blockchain technology for ensuring end-to-end encryption and distributed trust protocols for safeguarding secret keys.
According to Ripple, the acquisition reinforces its dedication to regulatory compliance. It also empowers Ripple to enhance its current product lineup and explore additional complementary offerings.
Furthermore, Standard Custody & Trust’s limited purpose trust charter and money transmitter licenses will bolster Ripple’s expanding array of regulatory licenses.
Ripple, alongside its subsidiaries, currently holds a New York BitLicense, close to 40 money transmitter licenses throughout the US, a Major Payment Institution License granted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and a Virtual Asset Service Provider registration issued by the Central Bank of Ireland.
Standard Custody & Trust CEO Jack McDonald 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.”
Ripple’s deal with Standard Custody & Trust comes on the heels of its last year’s $250m acquisition of Metaco, which serves as a custody provider to banks globally.
Recently, Ripple disclosed its custody partnerships with banks like HSBC, BBVA, and Zodia Custody, along with its expansion into new markets such as Africa for its Ripple Payments service.
By focusing on its core businesses in payments and custody, Ripple now facilitates live commercial custody services in 20 regulatory jurisdictions and facilitates payments to 70 countries.
Ripple president Monica Long 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 tokenise, 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.”
The completion of the transaction is contingent upon regulatory approval and standard closing conditions.
TD Cowen acted as the exclusive financial adviser to PolySign.
