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.
VivoPower will also continue acquiring XRP (XRP) tokens directly, becoming the first publicly listed US firm to provide investors exposure to both Ripple equity and XRP.
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VivoPower taps BitGo, Nasdaq for Ripple share custody
To manage the strategy, VivoPower will work with BitGo for custody and Nasdaq Private Market, Ripple’s preferred partner for private share transactions. An independent auditor will review its Ripple holdings quarterly.
Ripple, which created 100 billion XRP at inception, has burned around 14 million tokens to date and holds 41 billion, mostly in escrow. Beyond XRP, the company operates the RLUSD stablecoin, digital asset prime broker Hidden Road, custodians MetaCo and Standard Custody & Trust and the stablecoin payment platform Rail.
VivoPower’s management argues the combined strategy will lower the average acquisition cost per XRP to an implied $0.47, an 86% discount to current market prices, based solely on Ripple’s XRP holdings and excluding the value of its other business lines.
According to the company, every $10 million in Ripple shares purchased could add an estimated $5.15 per share in value for VivoPower shareholders, though this depends on market volatility.
Related: New infrastructure aims to awaken XRP’s dormant $200B market
BDACS launches institutional XRP custody in South Korea
On Tuesday, South Korean crypto custodian BDACS launched regulated custody services for XRP, following its February partnership with Ripple. The move leverages Ripple Custody, an enterprise-grade solution, to give institutions secure storage and management capabilities for XRP.
Earlier this year, Ripple Labs partnered with South Korean crypto custodian BDACS to offer institutional custody support for XRP and its US dollar–backed stablecoin, RLUSD.
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