In a crucial development in the XRP ecosystem, Ripple announced its plans to acquire the New York-based crypto asset platform Standard Custody and Trust Company. The deal marks a strategic step towards the company’s expansion, enhancing Ripple’s digital asset portfolio and regulatory licenses.

Standard Custody sees its collaboration with Ripple as a means to extend its leading position in the crypto infrastructure. Jack McDonald, the CEO of Standard Custody commented on the potential of the collaboration between two industrial giants, stating,

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.

Ripple’s acquisition of Standard Custody envisions exploring the current market opportunities. Ripple’s President Monica Long asserted, “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 tokenize, store, move, and exchange value.” She added,

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.

Upon the approval of the deal, Ripple would become the sole shareholder of Standard Custody. Subsequently, the crypto firm becomes the custodian of Standard Custody’s existing licenses and registration. Thus, the acquisition allows Ripple to expand its regulatory license portfolio.

The current development is a part of Ripple’s wider vision of global reach. Last year, Ripple acquired Metaco, a Swiss firm specializing in digital asset custody. Ripple has also declared the platform’s collaboration with many other firms like Zodia Custody, HSBC, and BBVA. In addition, the platform has targeted expanding its services to new areas, including South Africa.