Ripple Labs Closes Formal Security Acquisition Agreement

Ripple Labs on June 11 closed its acquisition of Standard Repository, a digital asset custodian. The contract, announced earlier this year, is central to Ripple's broader goals of a proposed US dollar stablecoin and real-world asset token.

As part of the deal, Standard Protection executive Jack MacDonald will be appointed as Ripple's Senior Vice President of Stablecoins, while he will remain as Standard Protection executive.

Ripple has highlighted standard custody licensing as a key feature of a digital asset custodian, citing regulatory approval of standard custody from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) – one of the strictest financial regulators when it comes to digital assets.

The acquisition of Standard Custody follows Ripple's 2023 acquisition of Metaco, another digital asset custody firm, for $250 million. Ripple's purchase of Metaco is underscored by the institutional crypto custody industry's belief that it will reach $10 trillion by 2030, as banks look to offer digital asset custody services to their customers.

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Included in the range of custodial services is the creation of a real-world asset token — a market that could be worth more than $800 trillion if all the world's capital assets were tokenized, according to Chainlink.

Real-world asset tokenization has become a major focus for organizations such as Ripple Labs, Chainlink, and Algorand; The emerging tokenization market is widely believed to be the next big frontier for cryptocurrencies, blockchain and digital assets.

In May, the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) published a report on a real-world asset token pilot program conducted between DTCC and several large banks, including JP Morgan, Edward Jones and BNY Mellon, which used ChainLink's CCIP peering protocol.

The objective of the experiment is to test the simulation of fund data and bring real world data on chain. According to the DTCC report, several benefits of blockchain tokenization have been identified, including automated data management and reduced record keeping, transparent real-world APIs for customers, and “the ability to create flexible data management throughout the lifecycle.” property”

Ultimately, the pilot program provided insight into future applications for banks and other institutional operators looking to use blockchain tokenization in their products and services, such as brokerage applications or automated data feeds.

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