Ripple Advances 1 Percent after Saying It Purchased Swiss Metaco to Create Alternative Overseas Subsidiary

Struggling poster child of crypto industry, a blockchain company Ripple announced today, on Wednesday May 17, that it has acquired Metaco, a Swiss company that securely stores digital assets on behalf of clients, to expand its international footprint and expand its services, CNBC reported. The price of XRP rose over 1% to $0.45.

News of the deal, one of the largest acquisitions in the cryptocurrency industry so far this year, comes as the San Francisco-based legendary token issuer continues to contest a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The cryptocurrency giant, valued at $15 billion in its latest private funding round, faces significant regulatory uncertainty after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, sued the company and two of its top executives for offering and holding unregistered securities.

The regulator's main claim is that XRP, a cryptocurrency closely related to Ripple, looks “like a security that should be registered” with regulators before being issued and sold to investors.