Ripple buys crypto infrastructure startup in its second acquisition of 2023
Summary
Cryptocurrency company Ripple announced on Friday it will acquire Fortress Trust, a startup specializing in crypto infrastructure, giving it a license in Nevada and allowing it to expand beyond its core bread and butter of blockchain-enabled payments. Founded in 2021 by Scott Purcell, an entrepreneur with a background in equity and debt crowdfunding, Fortress Trust aims to help large enterprises interact with digital currencies. Ripple said the deal would "support our existing lines of business — specifically in terms of improving the customer experience within our payments and liquidity solutions." A company spokesperson said this would enable the firm to "provide regulated services — for both fiat and crypto — to certain customers in the U.S." Ripple already holds a New York BitLicense, which lets it engage in regulated virtual currency activities in the state of New York, as well as 30 money transmitter licenses across the U.S. and an in-principle Major Payment Institution License from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the countrys central bank. Ripple is one of many players in the so-called "crypto custody" space, meaning its focused on helping companies and individual users store their tokens in a secure, decentralized address without requiring all the technical knowhow.