Acquisition of Ripple Fortress Trust Adds to Companies' Regulatory Licenses
Date: 2023-09-09 Author: Karina Ziganova Categories: CRYPTO PAYMENTS, BUSINESS
Ripple has completed its acquisition of web3-focused Fortress Trust for an undisclosed sum, according to a source.
On September 6, the crypto company announced that it had agreed to acquire a charter trust company in Nevada. From the press statement: The acquisition will further highlight Ripple's business and product roadmap.
The acquisition expands Ripple's regulatory licenses, including adding a Nevada license to its current assets such as the New York BitLicense and money transmitter licenses in 30 US states.
The purchase is consistent with Ripple's expansion plans, which have benefited from the partial victory they won against the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Last year this month, the cryptocurrency payments company entered into a $250 million deal with Swiss firm Metaco as its sole shareholder.
Fortress Trust technology will be used by Ripple.
This strategic move allows Ripple to leverage Fortress Trust's technology, licensing and infrastructure to expand its ability to serve the growing cryptocurrency market.
Fortress Trust, led by financial industry veteran Scott Purcell, provides both regulatory and financial infrastructure for blockchain companies. Notably, Ripple was already a minority investor in Fortress Blockchain, the parent company of Fortress Trust, having participated in the company's seed funding round in August 2022.
Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, noted that since its launch in 2021, Fortress Trust has built an impressive business with stable revenue and a large list of crypto-native clients. Then he added:
“We are pleased to welcome this team and their technology to the company to accelerate our business and also increase our advantage in many areas of crypto infrastructure.”
The crypto company's president, Monica Long, said the acquisition will help it "create and deliver a best-in-class customer experience for businesses using its crypto infrastructure in our payments and liquidity solutions."
Scot Purcell, CEO of Fortress Blockchain: “This acquisition was a testament to how they have built a team and business in a short period of time.”
