Swiss arm of BBVA bank taps Ripple-owned Metaco for crypto custody

BBVA Switzerland has migrated its crypto custody services to Ripple-owned infrastructure provider Metaco.

Under the collaboration agreement, BBVA Switzerland will be using Metaco‘s Harmonize platform to connect between multiple blockchain networks, according to a press release published on Dec. 7, 2023.

With Metaco, the Swiss branch of the BBVA banking group wants to expand its services beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum networks for fund managers and large companies, that need to “explore new business opportunities and opportunities to exchange value in a digital environment,” BBVA Switzerland says. In addition to custodian services, Harmonize will also serve as a trading platform as well as a tool for real-world assets tokenization, the press release reads.

Amid the news, Ripple’s XRP token surged by almost 2.3% and is trading at $0.61, according to CoinGecko data. With the surge, the token’s market capitalization has reached the $34.6 billion mark, at the time of writing.

In early November 2023, HSBC, a global financial services company, also partnered with Metaco to launch a new platform for tokenized securities custody, marking a significant step forward for the bank in its digital asset strategy. The collaboration complements HSBC’s existing digital asset offerings, which include the HSBC Orion bond tokenization platform and the HSBC Evolve platform for trading tokenized physical gold.

As crypto.news reported in May 2023, Ripple acquired a controlling stake in Metaco, a Swiss firm specializing in digital asset custody and tokenization technology. The deal, which is Ripple’s first major acquisition, signals the company’s growing focus on the custody market. With the completion of the Metaco share acquisition, Ripple became the sole shareholder of the Swiss crypto custodian.