- Ripple expects to be more active buying up even more crypto companies.
- The firm’s stablecoin lead says the firm is already getting calls from smaller startups.
With the XRP token soaring in price, Ripple is aggressively ramping up its deal-making efforts.
The crypto firm holds more than $143 billion in XRP — the majority of which is in escrow — according to its latest financial attestation.
Now, with crypto top of mind in the US, the company wants to put that money to work.
“Ripple is actively seeking companies to purchase,” a spokesperson told DL News. “We have been active in the mergers and acquisitions space and expect to be more active moving forward.”
Trump’s world
The election of Donald Trump has galvanised the crypto industry as the president-elect names crypto-friendly players to key posts in his administration.
Bankers have said they see an uptick in mergers across various sectors, helped by what they see as a more permissive regulatory environment.
In the last two years, Ripple has acquired the crypto custody firms Metaco for $250 million and Standard Custody for an undisclosed amount.
But which sectors are ripe for consolidation?
Ripple stablecoin takes flight
As the stablecoin market heats up and new entrants compete for digital dollar dominance, at least one Ripple executive predicts a key deal-making phase in the niche this year.
The high cost of compliance for operating in the US is kicking off a “war of attrition” among smaller stablecoin upstarts, Jack McDonald, the crypto firm’s stablecoin lead, told DL News. McDonald was the CEO of Standard Custody before Ripple acquired it.
“I’m already in conversations with some startups deciding that this is going to be a hard business to compete in and are offering to sell their company already,” said McDonald, referring to the competitive landscape.
He declined to elaborate on his discussions with those companies, adding only that Ripple will be “specific” in its deal hunt.
Still, the meetings are lining up.
“I’ve gotten pinged twice in the last two weeks from small startups that people want to meet,” he said.
Ripple plunged into the competitive stablecoin business in late December, launching its RLUSD token onto a handful of exchanges.
The limited rollout has already generated market buzz.
Over the last day, the RLUSD stablecoin recorded seven times more trading volume than PayPal’s offering, according to crypto price tracker CoinGecko.
But Ripple is far from being a serious contender in the niche.
At just $72 million, RLUSD is roughly an eighth of the total value of PayPal’s stablecoin and nowhere near stablecoin stalwarts like Tether and Circle.
Tether’s stablecoin is worth $137 billion, and Circle’s is worth $46 billion.
Liam Kelly is a Berlin-based reporter for DL News. Got a tip? Email him at liam@dlnews.com.