VivoPower shares surged over 32% after announcing a $100 million plan to buy Ripple Labs shares, expanding its exposure to Ripple equity and XRP tokens. Nasdaq-listed solar power company VivoPower International PLC saw its shares jump 32.12% to $5.10 on Friday after the company announced plans to purchase $100 million worth of privately held Ripple Labs shares, expanding its XRP-focused digital asset treasury strategy. The move, which follows two months of due diligence, will see VivoPower acquire Ripple shares directly from existing shareholders, pending approval from Ripple’s executive management, the company said in a Friday press release. “Our portfolio construction strategy is to buy a combination of Ripple shares and XRP tokens. This will allow us to optimize for yield maximization while also minimizing the weighted average cost of XRP acquired,” Kevin Chin, executive chairman and CEO of VivoPower, said. Read more
Ripple Labs and the SEC have both filed to drop their legal appeals in a yearslong court battle over the securities classification of the XRP token. The Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple Labs are set to end a yearslong legal battle after jointly asking an appeals court to dismiss the regulator’s appeal and the blockchain company’s cross-appeal. In a brief filing on Thursday, the Second Circuit Appeals Court recognized a joint dismissal of the SEC’s appeal and Ripple’s cross-appeal in the lawsuit over XRP (XRP), noting each party will bear their own costs and fees. “Following the Commission’s vote today, the SEC and Ripple formally filed directly with the Second Circuit to dismiss their appeals,” Ripple’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, wrote to X on Thursday. Read more
Ripple has acquired Rail to offer stablecoin payment services, with plans to integrate RLUSD, banking partners and compliance tools across global markets. Ripple announced Thursday that it will acquire stablecoin-powered payments platform Rail for $200 million, with the deal expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025. The company said the move aims to expand its enterprise-grade digital asset infrastructure and “deliver the most comprehensive stablecoin payments solution available in the market.” Ripple expects the acquisition to enable it to offer stablecoin on- and off-ramps without requiring customers to hold cryptocurrency, and to facilitate customers in managing multiple payment types on behalf of themselves and their internal treasury flows. Read more
TradFi giants made 345 blockchain investments between 2020–2024, with G-SIBs leading 100+ deals across tokenization, custody and payments. Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Japan’s SBI Group have emerged as the most active players in traditional finance backing blockchain startups, according to a new report by Ripple in partnership with CB Insights and the UK Centre for Blockchain Technologies. Between 2020 and 2024, global banks participated in 345 investments in blockchain companies, most of them in early-stage funding rounds, per the report. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs led the pack with 18 deals each, while JP Morgan and Mitsubishi UFJ followed closely with 15 investments. Mega-rounds, deals worth $100 million or more, were a key focus. Banks contributed to 33 such rounds during the four-year window, pouring capital into firms focused on trading infrastructure, tokenization, custody, and payment solutions. Read more