Blockchain technology company Ripple Labs Inc. has bought the Switzerland-based digital asset custody and tokenization firm Metaco SA for $250 million, the company said in an announcement today.

Metaco provides a platform for cryptocurrency and digital asset custody infrastructure for institutions to safely store tokens. Its primary service is Harmonize, which is an enterprise-grade offering designed for banks, businesses and other institutions to create and hold their own tokens.

Ripple developed its own XRP cryptocurrency, which has a market cap of about $22.8 billion, making it the sixth-largest token. The company has created its own suite of payment products based on blockchain technology to address cross-border payments using cryptocurrency tokens. Currently Ripple serves numerous customers in over 55 countries, across six continents.

The company said the acquisition will expand its own enterprise offerings to include custody and the capability of issuing, settling and trading any type of tokenized asset. This will allow Ripple to open up new revenue models and dramatically grow its feature set for banking and institutional clients, the company said.

“As the go-to provider for traditional finance companies looking to integrate crypto and blockchain solutions,” said Ripple President Monica Long. “Ripple is uniquely positioned to address the growing institutional crypto custody market, expected to reach nearly $10 trillion by 2030. Custody is a key facet of the infrastructure required for enterprise crypto services.”

Metaco will continue to operate as an independent brand and business unit led by its founder and Chief Executive Adrien Treccani after the acquisition.

In addition to helping diversify the company’s offerings, the acquisition of Metaco will also help the company expand its operations beyond the borders of the United States where Ripple, alongside much of the crypto industry, is currently facing increasing regulatory scrutiny.

In 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple and several executives alleging that the company illegally sold about $1.3 billion in XRP tokens amounting to unregistered securities. The company rejected the charges, saying that the tokens involved did not need to be registered.

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