The purchase was a key part of the company’s strategy to expand outside the U.S. in the face of regulatory uncertainty.
In addition, the company seeks to provide institutional investors with cryptocurrency storage services.
“Bringing Metaco on board is essential to our growing product portfolio and expanding our global footprint,” said Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.
Ripple will become Metaco’s sole shareholder, which will continue to operate as an independent business unit led by its founder and CEO Adrien Treccani.
In 2020, Ripple and some of its executives faced a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the unregistered sale of about $1.3 billion worth of XRP tokens.
Garlinghouse recently estimated that the lawsuit would cost the company about $200 million, and warned cryptocurrency entrepreneurs against opening businesses in the U.S.
Earlier, the head of Ripple expressed regret that U.S. regulators have resisted developing regulations to regulate the industry, preferring to apply outdated rules to it.