Ripple, the blockchain company closely associated with the XRP Ledger (XRP) network, is acquiring treasury software provider GTreasury for $1 billion, delving deeper into corporate finance.
GTreasury’s treasury platform, used by Fortune 500 companies to manage cash, currencies and risks, will become part of Ripple’s growing suite of financial tools, the company told CoinDesk on Thursday. The acquisition will close in the coming months, subject to regulatory approvals, it added.
The deal puts Ripple in direct contact with large treasury departments, many of which still rely on legacy systems to manage billions in liquidity, as the digital asset company works to make its blockchain infrastructure central to how businesses manage money.
“For too long, money has been trapped in slow and outdated payment systems and infrastructure, leading to unnecessary delays, high costs, and barriers to entering new markets – problems that blockchain technologies are ideally suited to solve,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in a statement.
“Ripple and GTreasury’s capabilities together bring together the best of both worlds, so treasury and finance teams can finally put their trapped capital to work, process payments instantly, and open up new growth opportunities,” he added.
Ripple’s acquisition spree
Ripple, best known for its cross-border payments network, is increasingly positioning itself as a broader provider of financial services infrastructure backed by digital assets and blockchain technology.
The company launched its US dollar stablecoin last year, which increased more than $840 million in supply available on the XRP Ledger (XRP) and Ethereum.
Ripple also offers digital asset custody services through its institutional custody division, born from the acquisition of Swiss crypto specialist Metaco.
The deal with GTreasury will be Ripple’s third acquisition this year of leading multi-asset brokerage Hidden Road for $1.25 billion and stablecoin payments platform Rail for $200 million, as part of a coordinated effort to build the building blocks of a complete cryptocurrency-powered financial platform.
Read more: Ripple CEO slams Wall Street bank’s opposition to Fed master accounts for cryptocurrencies