Ripple's XRP saw a slight downtick of 0.5% on Thursday after Webus International (WETO) announced plans to launch an XRP reserve through non-equity funding worth up to $300 million. The development follows VivoPower (VVPR) securing a $121 million private offering to launch its XRP treasury strategy.
AI-driven mobility solutions company Webus International announced it would explore a new financing strategy to raise $300 million. The company intends to utilize the proceeds to establish an XRP reserve and facilitate cross-border payments across its transportation system using XRP.
Webus plans to generate the funds through a mix of "non-equity vehicles," including available cash reserves, bank lending, shareholder guarantees and third-party corporate-backed credit facilities from traditional banks. In addition, it plans to develop a blockchain infrastructure, which includes wallets, Web3 tokens and on-chain booking records.
"Internationally, our potential XRP implementation can eliminate traditional payment friction, allowing instant settlement with chauffeurs and service providers worldwide while providing immediate refunds when needed," said Nan Zheng, CEO of Webus, in a press release.
The company noted that the financial plan remains non-binding, pending the completion of definitive documentation and the satisfaction of specified conditions.
The development comes barely a day after Nasdaq-listed VivoPower announced it raised $121 million to adopt XRP as a treasury reserve asset. It also adds to the trend of institutions employing cryptocurrencies as reserve assets in their treasuries.
The plan to launch an XRP reserve signals XRP's growing recognition among institutions seeking exposure to digital assets outside of Bitcoin.
The cryptocurrency has seen notable wins in the past few months, including an XRP futures listing on the CME and the launch of a first-ever XRP futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) by Volatility Shares.
Several US ETF issuers are also awaiting a decision from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the various spot XRP ETF submissions.
XRP saw a slight decline of 0.5% following the announcement, extending its weekly losses to over 6%.