On Wednesday San Francisco-based blockchain firm Ripple announced the acquisition of Switzerland-based crypto custodial solutions provider Metaco in a major $250 million acquisition deal. Amid growing institutional participation in crypto, Ripple expects the custodial market to hit $10 trillion by 2030.

As we know, institutional players are looking for strong and regulated custodial solutions to safeguard their crypto. Ripple spokesperson said that the Metaco acquisition took place through a combination of cash and Ripple equity. The deal will help Ripple to expand its footprint quickly into the European market while giving access to top clients such as Citi and BNP Paribas.

Apart from facilitating storage and management of crypto assets, Metaco’s acquisition will allow Ripple to offer institutional clients additional services such as custody, issue, and settlement of tokenized assets. Also, Ripple’s established base of customers and resources will help accelerate Metaco’s growth.

Both the players – Ripple and Metaco – have a long history of working with regulated entities and offering enterprise-grade solutions to customers. Speaking on the development, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said:

Metaco is a proven leader in institutional digital asset custody with an exceptional executive bench and a truly unmatched customer track record . Through the strength of our balance sheet and financial position, Ripple will continue pressing our advantage in the areas critical to crypto infrastructure. Bringing on Metaco is monumental for our growing product suite and expanding global footprint.

XRP Price Shoots 6%

Soon as the news of Ripple’s acquisition of Metaco came on Wednesday, the XRP price surged by more than 6 percent moving all the way to $0.46. As of the press time, XRP is trading 4.58 percent up over the last 24 hours trading at $0.4468 with a market cap of $23.1 billion.

Metaco has been the pioneer in offering industrial-grade custodial solutions and infrastructure for institutions to scale new business models within the crypto economy. Metaco’s primary offer Harmonize™ offers the institutional standard for digital asset custody and tokenization infrastructure.

This solution has been adopted by some of the top-tier banking and financial institutions, corporations, as well as custodians. Metaco’s technology solutions are already available in several jurisdictions such as France, Switzerland, Germany, the US, the UK, Turkey, Singapore, Australia, and others. Sagar Shah, Head of Custody at Ripple said:

Metaco’s technology, product-market fit, customer base, and unparalleled team make them the perfect partner for Ripple as we look to provide critical crypto infrastructure to enterprises. We’re excited to support Metaco as they continue to deliver the same high-quality products and services their team has become known for while enabling their business to scale faster and more efficiently.

The latest acquisition of Metaco comes at a time when Ripple has been fighting a long-going battle with the US SEC. While Ripple’s fight with US regulators continues, it continues to expand its footprint in the overseas market.