Ripple ($XRP) has reached a deal to buy the Standard Custody & Trust Co, a limited purpose trust charter that will help the crypto company expand its US regulatory licensing.
Standard Custody & Trust Co is based in New York and is a subsidiary of the crypto infrastructure company Polysign.
Ripple is currently trying to expand its offerings, moving away from the payment services it is currently known for. Now, the crypto company is targeting financial blockchain products for their institutional clients.
Ripple’s latest acquisition will allow it to offer more services to its clients without needing to go to external firms. For example, tokenizing assets for financial companies.
The move to expand in the US comes amid a significant legal case with the SEC, which has been highly watched throughout the crypto community.
Ripple’s new acquisition deal
Ripple’s recently agreed deal with Standard Custody & Trust is still waiting on approval from the New York Department of Financial Services.
If the deal goes ahead, the acquisition would bring Ripple a crypto custody and settlement business. This would enable the company’s clients to have custody of their assets with Ripple, removing the need for an external partner.
“What Standard Custody brings to the portfolio here is another set of important licences with trust licences in the U.S.,” Ripple President Monica Long told The Block.
“Being able to provide not just the technology component to financial institutions who want to use blockchain for all types of decentralised financial services, you also need a compliance piece. And so these licences are really key to us being able to deliver that full end-to-end solution.”
As it continues to grow in the US, Ripple is now also seeking to finish its U.S. money transmission licensing.
SEC Clash
The Ripple vs SEC clash is currently infamous within the industry, as the crypto company has been accused of selling its native XRP token as an unregistered security.
The case has currently been fought in federal court, where one judge ruled largely in favour of Ripple. However, it is still ongoing, and will continue to be fought by both sides in the higher courts.
Despite hesitation from the ongoing process and regulatory uncertainty in the country, Ripple has noted the US as a major market driving crypto innovation and doesn’t want to miss out.
XRP Rally
XRP has rallied in the wake of this news and as the wider crypto market picks up. The token reached a high of $0.533 on Tuesday after the deal was reached. At the time of writing, XRP is currently trading at $0.532, up 5.9% over the past week.
Market analysts suggest that it will likely surge to its $0.562 resistance level. If it does reach this level, XRP would have retraced 50% from its 2024 peak low on 31 January.
