Ripple announced on Wednesday, May 17, that it has acquired crypto custody company Metaco for $250 million.
Metaco is producing technology that allows financial institutions to store and manage digital assets. The company’s clients include Citi, BNP Paribas and the digital asset arm of Societe Generale.
Garlinghouse Expects Demands to Increase
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated that he expects increased demand for crypto custody services from institutional investors.
Garlinghouse continued, “If you focus on infrastructure, you won’t suffer the problems of the crypto winter. If you’re solving a clear problem for customers, there’s bound to be demand there.” Garlinghouse said Metaco’s Swiss-based and non-US employees added to the company’s appeal as US regulators increased sanctions on crypto firms.
According to market monitoring company CoinGecko, Ripple is the sixth largest cryptocurrency in the world with approximately $23 billion in assets in circulation. Ripple announced that more than half of the $250 million purchase was paid in cash and the rest as equity.
Ripple was accused and sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for offering unregistered securities offerings of $1.3 billion in December 2020. Ripple denied the accusations, saying that the asset is a currency and does not need to be registered as an investment contract.
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