Nasdaq-listed solar power firm VivoPower International PLC saw its stock soar 32.12% to $5.10 on Friday after revealing plans to buy $100 million worth of privately held Ripple Labs shares—a move that expands its XRP-focused digital asset treasury strategy.
Following two months of due diligence, VivoPower will acquire Ripple shares directly from existing shareholders, subject to approval from Ripple’s executive management.
“Our portfolio construction strategy is to acquire a mix of Ripple shares and XRP tokens. This allows us to maximize yields while minimizing the weighted average cost of XRP,” said Kevin Chin, VivoPower’s executive chairman and CEO.
The company will also keep purchasing XRP tokens directly, making it the first publicly traded U.S. company to give investors exposure to both Ripple equity and XRP. After the announcement, VivoPower shares climbed another 4.51% in after-hours trading.
Custody & Transaction Partners
VivoPower has selected BitGo for asset custody and Nasdaq Private Market—Ripple’s preferred partner for private share transactions—to facilitate the purchases. An independent auditor will review the firm’s Ripple holdings on a quarterly basis.
Ripple, which initially created 100 billion XRP, has burned around 14 million tokens so far and retains 41 billion XRP, most of which are held in escrow. Beyond XRP, Ripple operates:
The RLUSD stablecoin
Digital asset prime broker Hidden Road
Custodians MetaCo and Standard Custody & Trust
The Rail stablecoin payment platform
VivoPower’s management claims the combined strategy could bring the implied cost per XRP down to $0.47—an 86% discount to current market prices—based solely on Ripple’s XRP holdings and excluding its other businesses. The firm estimates that every $10 million invested in Ripple shares could potentially add $5.15 per share in value for VivoPower shareholders, though results will vary with market conditions.
XRP Custody Expansion in South Korea
Separately, on Tuesday, South Korean crypto custodian BDACS launched regulated institutional custody services for XRP, following a February partnership with Ripple. The service uses Ripple Custody, an enterprise-grade solution, to offer secure storage and management for XRP.
Earlier this year, BDACS and Ripple also partnered to provide custody solutions for XRP and RLUSD, Ripple’s U.S. dollar–backed stablecoin.
