Ripple Completes $1.25 Billion Hidden Road Acquisition, Launches Prime Brokerage Service

TLDR

• Ripple completed its $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road and rebranded it as Ripple Prime, becoming the first crypto company to own a multi-asset prime broker
• Ripple Prime serves over 300 institutional clients with more than $3 trillion cleared across markets including digital assets, foreign exchange, derivatives, and fixed income
• The business has tripled in size since the acquisition was announced in April 2025
• Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin is being used as collateral by some derivatives clients on the platform
• This marks Ripple’s sixth acquisition in 28 months, including GTreasury, Rail, Standard Custody, and Metaco

Ripple has finalized its purchase of Hidden Road and renamed the business Ripple Prime. The deal closed this week after being announced in April 2025.

The $1.25 billion acquisition makes Ripple the first crypto company to own and operate a global multi-asset prime broker. Ripple Prime offers services across digital assets, foreign exchange, derivatives, swaps, fixed income, and precious metals.

The business has grown quickly since the initial announcement. Ripple Prime now serves more than 300 institutional customers and has cleared over $3 trillion across markets.

Business activity has tripled in the months since the deal was first revealed. The company expects continued growth from both new and existing clients.

What Ripple Prime Offers Institutions

Ripple Prime provides a single platform for institutional clients to access multiple services. Clients can handle trading, financing, and clearing through one desk instead of managing relationships with multiple providers.

The service includes real-time risk management and cross-margining capabilities. It also offers SOC 2 Type II compliance for security standards.

For hedge funds and market makers, this means they no longer need to coordinate with separate exchanges, lenders, and custodians. All services run through a single intermediary.

The platform covers exchange-traded derivatives, over-the-counter swaps, and fixed income clearing. It also handles repo transactions and precious metals trading.

RLUSD Stablecoin Integration

Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin plays a role in the new service. Some derivatives clients already hold their account balances in RLUSD.

The stablecoin is also being used as collateral for certain prime brokerage products. BNY Mellon serves as the primary reserve custodian for RLUSD.

Researcher Bluechip gave RLUSD an “A” rating in July 2024. The rating covers stability, governance, and asset backing.

Ripple plans to integrate blockchain technology into Prime operations in the future. This move aims to streamline processes and reduce operational costs.

Hidden Road founder Marc Asch said the combination would unlock growth by adding licenses and risk capital. CEO Brad Garlinghouse called it an inflection point for digital asset adoption.

The acquisition continues Ripple’s expansion strategy. The company bought treasury management provider GTreasury last week and payment platform Rail in August.

Ripple also acquired Standard Custody in June 2024 and Metaco in June 2023. This brings the total to six acquisitions in 28 months.

Ripple Prime extends the company’s reach beyond payments and custody into full broker-dealer services. The platform competes with traditional prime brokers in both crypto and foreign exchange markets.

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