Ripple announced the acquisition of Fortress Trust, a Nevada-based charter trust company that provides Web3 financial, regulatory and technology infrastructure for blockchain innovators.
The deal is expected to enhance Ripple's business and product roadmap, as well as its licensing capabilities.
According to a press release Friday, Ripple did not disclose financial terms of the acquisition, but a person with knowledge of the matter said the price tag was less than the $250 million it paid for custody firm Metaco in May.
The institutional cryptocurrency and blockchain market continues to grow and is predicted to reach approximately $250 billion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate of 54.5%.
Following the completion of the Fortress Trust agreement, Ripple plans to invest in parent company Fortress Blockchain Technologies and FortressPay services, which will leverage Ripple's global technology to deliver new and innovative payment solutions to B2B customers around the world.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the following on the subject:
“As one of the early investors in Fortress Blockchain, we had the chance to get to know the team, its vision, and its technology. Since their launch in 2021, they have built an impressive startup with recurring revenue and a strong roster of both crypto natives and crypto newbies. We are excited to bring this team and its technology to accelerate our business and maintain our advantage in areas critical to crypto infrastructure.”
Ripple President Monica Long uses the following statements:
“Licenses are a powerful tool to create and deliver best-in-class customer experiences for businesses using Ripple's crypto infrastructure across our payments and liquidity solutions. “Acquiring Fortress Trust gives us many options to both improve the existing customer experience across our existing products and explore new, complementary products.”
*Not investment advice.