Ripple, a US FinTech that offers crypto solutions for businesses, has announced a set of strategic partnerships designed to expand its custody capabilities.

The move aims to “simplify procurement”, accelerate time-to-market, and help banks to roll out digital asset custody faster and more securely.

Through its partnership with high-security hardware firm Securosys, the company said it is enabling institutions to roll out HSM-based custody without the “traditional cost, complexity or procurement delays”.

The offering provides banks and custodians with direct control over cryptographic keys.

To further expand institutional product offerings, Ripple has also partnered with Figment to offer staking capabilities to its custody clients.

The partnership enables banks, custodians, and regulated enterprises to offer staking for leading Proof-of-Stake networks, including Ethereum and Solana, without building validator infrastructure or compromising operational controls, said the crypto firm.

Ripple Custody enables the firm's customers to store and manage digital assets. Through Ripple Prime, the company offers a global, multi-asset prime brokerage for institutional customers.

Ripple’s stablecoin (RLUSD) and the cryptocurrency, XRP, are leveraged across these solutions to make traditional finance more efficient and enable new ways to utilise digital assets, said the business.

“Institutions need cohesive systems in order to make the most of digital asset capabilities,” said Aaron Slettehaugh, SVP of product at Ripple. “By bringing best-in-class security, compliance, and staking to Ripple Custody customers, we’re removing the friction of managing complex tech stacks and enabling our customers to go live faster and scale with confidence.”

In January, Ripple received approval for an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence and Cryptoasset Registration from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The authorisations enable Ripple to expand its licensed payments platform Ripple Payments in the UK, enabling British institutions to send cross-border payments using digital assets.

During the same month, Ripple received preliminary approval for an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence in Luxembourg.

FinTech firms LMAX Group and Ripple also signed a strategic partnership that they hope will lead to traditional and alternative capital markets becoming one entity.

The partnership, which will last for several years, will see LMAX Group provide Ripple’s US dollar-pegged stablecoin - RLUSD - as collateral to customers using its institutional trading infrastructure.

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