Listed energy company VivoPower is exploring a striking move outside its traditional sector. The company is considering an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in shares of the American blockchain company Ripple, but with a strong focus on the Asian market.
VivoPower wants to give institutional investors XRP exposure
VivoPower is working with South Korea’s Lean Ventures on a joint investment in shares of Ripple Labs. The goal is to collect $300 million worth of Ripple shares, earmarked for institutional and qualified retail investors in South Korea.
This gives investors indirect exposure to an estimated $900 million worth of XRP, equivalent to approximately 450 million tokens. This concerns shares of Ripple itself and of existing institutional shareholders. VivoPower is currently in discussions with several parties.
VivoPower is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange and originally focuses on sustainable energy solutions, such as solar energy, battery storage and electric vehicles. Recently, however, the company has made a notable turn towards digital assets.
It is striking that it does not buy XRP itself. Instead, an investment vehicle is set up that holds Ripple shares. This gives investors access to the potential of XRP without directly owning the cryptocurrency.
VivoPower is also not investing any of its own money in the project. Instead, the company earns from management fees and performance bonuses. If it manages to structure the full amount of $300 million, VivoPower is aiming for $75 million in revenue in three years.
XRP central to VivoPower business strategy
This deal is in line with the company’s broader change in direction. Earlier this year, VivoPower raised $121 million from Saudi Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Saud, among others. The proceeds are used to use XRP in various applications.
VivoPower previously deployed $100 million in XRP via the Flare (FLR) network to generate returns. In addition, the company uses Ripple’s own stablecoin RLUSD for daily business operations.
XRP price drops below $2
The energy company’s announcement comes at a time when the XRP price is under pressure. The digital currency fluctuates around $1.90, which means it remains below the psychologically important limit of $2. The losses are related to a broader negative sentiment in the crypto market.
XRP is also performing weakly compared to its recent peak. In July the coin reached a value of 3.65 dollars. Since then, the share price has collapsed by more than 48 percent.
Source: https://newsbit.nl/nasdaq-bedrijf-zet-vol-in-op-xrp-wil-300-miljoen-investeren-in-ripple/
