Ripple Secures Strategic Expansion In the U.S. Through Acquisition Of Standard Custody & Trust Company

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In a recent move to boost regulatory presence in the United States, Ripple, the leading provider of enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions, announced its acquisition of Standard Custody & Trust Company. This acquisition is a significant milestone in Ripple’s growth strategy, enabling the company to extend its range of secure and compliant crypto solutions in the U.S. market amid the ongoing battle with the SEC.

Ripple’s Big Move Amid SEC Clash

Ripple announced on Tuesday its acquisition of Standard Custody & Trust Co., aiming to enhance its U.S. regulatory licensing portfolio with a New York trust charter. This move is part of Ripple’s strategic expansion in the United States, despite its focus on international markets and an ongoing legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

By acquiring a company that holds a New York limited purpose trust charter, Ripple will be able to expand its offerings, providing more comprehensive in-house services, especially for financial institutions interested in asset tokenization. Ripple is widening its corners beyond its established payments network, venturing into additional financial products using blockchain technology for the benefit of its institutional clients.

Ripple’s agreement to acquire Standard Custody & Trust, the specifics of which remain undisclosed and is pending approval from the New York Department of Financial Services, introduces a crypto custody and settlement service to Ripple’s suite of offerings. This addition will enable Ripple’s clients to retain custody of their assets directly with Ripple, eliminating the need to seek external partners for this service.

Although the acquisition is subject to regulatory clearance, once finalized, Ripple will emerge as the exclusive shareholder, as conveyed by a spokesperson.

Ripple President Monica Long said, “What Standard Custody brings to the portfolio here is another set of important licenses with trust licenses in the U.S. Being able to provide not just the technology component to financial institutions who want to use blockchain for all types of decentralized financial services, you also need a compliance piece. And so these licenses are really key to us being able to deliver that full end-to-end solution.”

Ripple Vs SEC Clash Continues

Ripple is prioritizing its business expansion over the ongoing SEC lawsuit, confident in securing a favorable outcome as the case continues to be in their favor. Recently, a New York judge mandated Ripple Labs to disclose specific financial records and details regarding its institutional sales of XRP tokens, following a request from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made in early January.

This request comes after a significant decision in the legal battle, where the accusation of Ripple conducting unregistered securities sales in the U.S. was addressed. Judge Analisa Torres’ verdict last July, which found that only Ripple’s institutional sales of XRP violated U.S. laws, was hailed by the cryptocurrency community as a win, marking a step forward in defining regulatory approaches to digital currencies.