Metaco

Company overview

Let’s be honest — in the world of crypto custody, most companies are as exciting as a tax spreadsheet. But every now and then, something (or someone) comes along that makes you sit up, adjust your DeFi glasses, and go, “Wait, what did Ripple just acquire?” That something is Metaco — a Swiss-based crypto custody firm that isn’t just another cold wallet company with a fancy logo. This is the real deal, folks. And yes, there’s XRP in the mix. Big time.

In May 2023, Ripple made headlines (again) when it dropped a cool 0 million to acquire Metaco. That’s not pocket change — even for a company that’s been reshaping cross-border payments since before most people could spell “blockchain”. This acquisition wasn’t just about buying tech. It was about securing the future of institutional-grade custody — and making XRP a centerpiece in that mission.

Why does this matter? Because custody is the backbone of trust in crypto. Without secure, compliant, and scalable custody solutions, institutional adoption of digital assets is a pipe dream. And if you’re holding XRP — whether you’re a whale or just a weekend trader — this move directly strengthens the infrastructure that keeps your assets safe, accessible, and enterprise-ready.

Metaco isn’t some fly-by-night startup. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland (neutral in geopolitics, fierce in fintech), Metaco has built a reputation for delivering military-grade custody solutions to banks, asset managers, and corporates across the globe. These aren’t just crypto-native players — we’re talking traditional financial institutions dipping their toes into blockchain finance, and choosing Metaco as their custodian of choice.

Ripple didn’t just acquire a company — it acquired a compliance-ready, battle-tested fintech infrastructure that’s now turbocharging its own institutional offerings. Think of Metaco as the armored vault behind Ripple’s growing empire of tokenized assets, XRPL-based solutions, and enterprise-grade liquidity hubs.

And let’s not forget the obvious: integrating Metaco’s platform into Ripple’s ecosystem means that XRP now has a broader, more secure institutional runway. That’s good news for everyone who believes in XRP’s potential to disrupt global finance, power real-time payments, and unlock new frontiers in digital asset trading.

So the next time someone asks, “What’s Ripple doing with XRP besides fighting lawsuits and building payment corridors?”, you can confidently say: they’re also quietly building a fortress — and Metaco is the high-tech drawbridge.

Understanding Metaco and Its Impact on XRP

At its core, Metaco is a digital asset custody and orchestration platform designed for enterprise use. What makes it stand out is its ability to seamlessly integrate with legacy financial systems while offering support for a wide range of digital assets, including — yes, you guessed it — XRP. This isn’t just about storage; it’s about control, compliance, and connectivity. With Metaco’s Harmonize platform, institutions can manage tokenized assets with the same rigor that they apply to traditional securities.

For XRP, this is a strategic power-up. Ripple has long positioned XRP as a bridge currency for cross-border transactions, but institutional adoption hinges on more than just speed and low fees. It requires ironclad custody, end-to-end compliance, and integration with regulated financial infrastructure. With Metaco in its arsenal, Ripple can now offer:

• Secure custody solutions tailored to banks, asset managers, and custodians
• Tokenization and lifecycle management for XRP and other assets
• On-premise and cloud-based deployments that meet global regulatory standards

In short, Metaco is the missing puzzle piece that allows Ripple to offer fully integrated blockchain finance solutions — from settlement rails to asset custody — all powered by the XRP Ledger. It’s a move that not only strengthens XRP’s institutional appeal but also positions Ripple as a one-stop shop for digital asset management in the Web3 era.

At XRPAuthority.com, we’ve been tracking Ripple’s strategic plays for years. This one’s a game-changer. If you’re serious about understanding how XRP fits into the broader fintech revolution, Metaco is a name you need to know. And if you’re looking for insights without the fluff, you’re already in the right place — welcome to the Authority.

Products and services

Now let’s talk brass tacks — what exactly does Metaco offer that made Ripple reach for the corporate checkbook and write 0 million in bold, blockchain-blue ink? Spoiler alert: it’s not just another crypto wallet app with a slick UI and a catchy name. Metaco’s product suite is built specifically for institutions — the kind that make compliance officers sweat and regulators perk up. And at the heart of it all? Harmonize — their flagship orchestration platform that’s become the Swiss Army knife of institutional crypto custody.

Harmonize isn’t your average digital asset vault. It’s a full-stack orchestration layer that enables financial institutions to securely manage the entire lifecycle of digital assets — from custody and tokenization to governance and settlement. It’s modular, API-driven, and designed to integrate seamlessly with legacy core banking systems. This means banks don’t have to rip out their existing infrastructure to enter the world of blockchain finance. Instead, they plug in Metaco — and just like that, they’re crypto-ready.

Here’s what makes Metaco’s product offering a crypto custody unicorn in pinstripe:

• Military-grade security: Metaco uses hardware security modules (HSMs), multi-party computation (MPC), and strict access controls to ensure digital assets are protected from both external threats and internal missteps.
• Regulatory compliance baked in: Whether it’s MiCA in Europe, the SEC’s latest mood swings, or Singapore’s MAS guidelines, Harmonize is built to adapt to shifting global regulatory frameworks.
• Multi-asset support: While XRP is getting the VIP treatment, Metaco’s platform supports a broad range of digital assets — giving institutions the flexibility to diversify their holdings and strategies.
• On-prem and cloud-native deployment: Whether a bank wants to host locally or leverage the cloud, Harmonize delivers the same security and functionality across environments.

But what really makes Metaco’s offerings stand out is the orchestration layer — the ability to define granular governance policies, track every transaction with audit-ready logs, and automate workflows that span multiple asset types and jurisdictions. This isn’t just about holding coins; it’s about transforming how institutions interact with tokenized value. That’s essential if XRP is to fulfill its destiny as a bridge asset in a world where central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), stablecoins, and tokenized securities are all competing for relevance.

And let’s not forget liquidity management. With Harmonize, Ripple can now enable institutions to programmatically move XRP between custody, trading venues, and liquidity hubs — all while maintaining strict compliance and governance. This is particularly crucial for Ripple’s liquidity-as-a-service model, which is gaining traction with fintechs and remittance providers worldwide. In essence, Metaco’s tools are turning XRP from a fast coin into a fully compliant, enterprise-grade asset with practical utility across the financial spectrum.

So while the crypto headlines tend to focus on price charts and regulatory drama, the real action — the kind that defines the future of blockchain finance — is happening under the hood. And with Metaco’s products now powering Ripple’s institutional engine, XRP is better positioned than ever to become more than just a digital asset. It’s becoming infrastructure.

Partnerships and clients

When it comes to crypto custody, you don’t just land billion-dollar clients by slapping “secure” on your homepage and calling it a day. Metaco’s client roster reads like a who’s who of global finance — and that’s precisely why Ripple saw so much value in the acquisition. We’re talking about Tier-1 banks, asset custodians, and regulated financial institutions across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North America. These aren’t your average altcoin hodlers. These are institutions that demand rock-solid infrastructure, airtight compliance, and the kind of operational resilience that only a firm like Metaco can deliver.

Before Ripple came into the picture, Metaco had already established strong partnerships with some of the world’s most respected financial entities. Names like BBVA, Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures, and DZ Bank — Germany’s second-largest bank by assets — weren’t just kicking the tires. They were actively deploying Metaco’s Harmonize platform to underpin their digital asset strategies. That kind of client validation doesn’t just happen. It’s earned through years of delivering secure, regulatory-aligned solutions that can scale with institutional needs.

Now, post-acquisition, Ripple is leveraging these relationships to accelerate XRP adoption within institutional frameworks. With Metaco’s integrations already live in multiple banking environments, Ripple gains a fast-track into enterprise use cases where XRP can serve as the native settlement asset. Consider the implications for cross-border payments, treasury management, and tokenized asset transfers — all areas where XRP shines, and where Metaco’s clients are already investing in blockchain infrastructure. It’s not just synergy; it’s strategic alignment at the protocol level.

• BBVA Switzerland: One of the first European banks to offer crypto custody and trading to private banking clients, powered by Metaco’s Harmonize.
• UnionBank of the Philippines: A key player in Southeast Asia’s digital banking revolution, using Metaco to offer crypto custody to retail and institutional clients alike.
• Zodia Custody (a Standard Chartered and Northern Trust-backed firm): Partnered with Metaco to deliver institutional-grade custody for digital assets across EMEA and APAC.

What’s particularly exciting here is how these partnerships create a ripple effect (pun fully intended) for XRP’s role in global finance. As institutions onboard Metaco’s tech stack, they’re not just gaining access to a custody solution — they’re entering RippleNet’s orbit, where XRP offers a low-cost, high-speed alternative to traditional settlement rails. That’s a huge win for Ripple’s liquidity strategy and a bullish signal for long-term XRP utility.

And let’s not underestimate the strategic backchannel this opens for Ripple. With Metaco’s existing client base already embedded in the heart of traditional finance, Ripple now has a direct line to decision-makers shaping the next generation of financial services. It’s like going from knocking on the door to having a seat at the boardroom table. And when that table includes central banks, custodians, and asset managers looking for compliant digital asset strategies, you better believe XRP will be part of the conversation.

At XRPAuthority.com, we’ve always said that mass adoption starts with infrastructure — and infrastructure starts with trust. Thanks to Metaco’s deep institutional relationships, Ripple isn’t just building bridges with XRP. It’s laying down the rails for a global financial system where blockchain isn’t the future — it’s the foundation. Stay tuned, because this is where things get interesting.

Security and compliance

Crypto custody without security is like a parachute without a ripcord — it looks cool until you need it. And when you’re talking about institutional-grade custody, the stakes are even higher. That’s where Metaco truly earns its stripes. This isn’t just a company that talks the talk — it’s a compliance-first, security-obsessed fortress that’s been battle-tested in some of the most tightly regulated financial environments on the planet. And now, with Ripple at the helm, those same airtight protocols are being applied to XRP and the broader Ripple ecosystem.

Let’s break it down: Metaco’s entire architecture is built around zero-trust principles, hardware isolation, and cryptographic integrity. We’re talking multi-party computation (MPC) for key management, hardware security modules (HSMs) with FIPS 140-2 Level 3 certification, and policy-based access controls that let financial institutions define exactly who can do what, when, and under what conditions. That’s not just secure — that’s Swiss secure. And in the world of blockchain finance, where a single vulnerability can mean millions in losses, that kind of rigor isn’t optional — it’s essential.

• Multi-layered security architecture: Combines MPC, HSMs, and air-gapped operational models to protect digital asset keys from internal and external threats.
• Granular governance controls: Institutions can create custom workflows, approval hierarchies, and audit trails to ensure every asset movement is compliant and traceable.
• Immutable audit logs: Every action is recorded cryptographically, enabling regulatory reporting, forensic analysis, and real-time compliance monitoring.

On the compliance side, Metaco doesn’t just keep up with regulations — it anticipates them. Harmonize is built to support jurisdiction-specific policies, from Europe’s MiCA framework to Singapore’s Payment Services Act. This means that financial institutions using Metaco can meet local compliance requirements without building separate solutions for each region. For Ripple, this is a massive advantage. It allows XRP to be deployed in a compliant way across multiple markets, reducing friction for adoption and unlocking the kind of regulatory clarity that institutions crave.

What’s more, Metaco’s platform supports segregation of duties, real-time compliance enforcement, and automated reporting — features that are music to the ears of compliance officers (and nightmares to bad actors). This level of control is what makes it possible for banks and asset managers to treat digital assets — including XRP — with the same governance and oversight as traditional securities. It’s also what makes Ripple’s liquidity services and cross-border payment solutions viable at scale. When your infrastructure is this bulletproof, regulators stop asking “if” and start asking “how soon?”

With security and compliance now native to Ripple’s institutional offerings, XRP is no longer just a fast, cost-effective digital asset. It’s a fully governed, enterprise-grade instrument ready for real-world deployment in environments where regulatory scrutiny is the norm. And as Ripple continues to expand its footprint in blockchain finance, having Metaco as its compliance backbone ensures that XRP can go wherever the future of finance leads — securely, compliantly, and confidently.