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On May 17, Ripple, creator of the XRP payment network and token of the same name, announced that it had acquired Swiss digital asset custodian and tokenization provider Metaco for $250 million. With this acquisition, Ripple says it will expand its enterprise offerings to hold, issue, and settle tokenized assets. The developers of the company wrote:
“Metaco will significantly accelerate its growth trajectory with access to Ripple’s installed base of hundreds of customers, capital to meet new demand, and resources to continue fulfilling its obligations to banking and institutional clients.”
Ripple estimates that by 2030, the cryptocurrency institutional custody market will reach $10 trillion. Her research also shows that “most of the world’s financial leaders in financial institutions” plan to use cryptocurrency custody solutions within the next three years. It provides examples of BNY Mellon’s cryptocurrency custody management plans and Nasdaq’s plans to launch cryptocurrency custody services in the second quarter. Adrian Treccani, founder and CEO of Metaco, commented:
“This transaction will allow Metaco to leverage the scale and strength of the Ripple market to achieve our goals and deliver value to our customers faster. We look forward to continuing to serve this unprecedented level of institutional demand.”
Metaco’s main offering is Harmonize, an institutional standard for digital asset custody and tokenization infrastructure that the firm says is used by major financial institutions. Metaco raised $20 million in four rounds before the May 17 announcement, according to Crunchbase, which was founded in 2015. “Ripple will continue to leverage our edge in areas critical to the cryptocurrency infrastructure,” commented Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.
Today, we are proud to announce Ripple has acquired @metaco_sabecoming the sole shareholder of the Swiss-based provider of digital asset custody and tokenization technology.
Learn more: https://t.co/GrI3u13iDT
— Ripple (@Ripple) May 17, 2023