Ripple has announced the acquisition of crypto-friendly prime brokerage Hidden Road in a landmark $1.25 billion deal, marking one of the largest M&A moves in the digital asset space. This bold step positions Ripple as the first crypto firm to own a global, multi-asset prime broker, bridging traditional finance and digital assets at scale.
A Game-Changing Acquisition for Ripple
The acquisition grants Ripple access to Hidden Road’s powerful infrastructure, which currently clears over $3 trillion annually across a diverse range of markets. With more than 300 top-tier institutional clients, Hidden Road brings unparalleled reach and credibility in FX, derivatives, swaps, fixed income, and digital assets.
Ripple, already a participant in Hidden Road’s Series B and a platform customer, plans to inject billions into the business, enabling immediate global scale and growth.
Why This Matters for the Crypto Market
According to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, the deal comes at a pivotal moment. With the regulatory fog in the US beginning to clear, institutional interest in digital assets is surging.
“We are at an inflection point for the next phase of digital asset adoption,” said Garlinghouse. “The market is maturing, and Ripple is leveraging its strength — including XRP and RLUSD — to enhance its technology and meet institutional needs.”
The acquisition strengthens Ripple USD (RLUSD) as a USD-backed enterprise-grade stablecoin, already being used by Hidden Road as collateral across its brokerage offerings. RLUSD is now poised to become the first stablecoin to support cross-margining between crypto and traditional assets, a major breakthrough for institutional risk management.
New Utility for Ripple’s Ecosystem
As part of the integration, Hidden Road will migrate post-trade operations to Ripple’s XRPL blockchain, bringing Ripple’s DeFi infrastructure into prime brokerage workflows. Additionally, Hidden Road will offer Ripple-powered payment liquidity and digital asset custody services to its institutional client base.
These synergies not only extend Ripple’s utility into traditional finance but also signal growing adoption of XRPL as a serious infrastructure layer for institutional-grade finance.
Looking Ahead: A Bigger Role for XRP
Standard Chartered recently forecast that XRP could reach $12.50 by the end of 2028, a significant jump from its current value of $1.94. The prediction adds momentum to Ripple’s vision of blending decentralised assets with traditional finance.
Marc Asch, CEO of Hidden Road, echoed this optimism: “This partnership allows us to scale rapidly and expand into new markets while bringing trust and institutional-grade reliability to digital finance.”
