Ripple invests $1.25 billion to complete the acquisition of Hidden Road, making a significant move to create Ripple Prime as the world's first major encryption brokerage!

Ripple, the developer of XRP, has completed the acquisition of non-bank prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. The integrated platform has been renamed Ripple Prime and will provide institutional clients with forex, digital asset, derivation, and other cross-market clearing, prime brokerage, and financing services. Since the announcement of the transaction in April this year, Ripple Prime's business volume has tripled. This acquisition makes Ripple the first crypto company to have a global prime broker, aiming to ensure that assets like XRP and RLUSD receive the same institutional treatment as traditional stocks and bonds by controlling the “gatekeeper” infrastructure for institutional trading, and to assist RLUSD stablecoin in becoming the collateral for prime brokerage products.

Ripple Makes History: The First Encryption Company to Own a Major Global Brokerage

Ripple has completed a milestone acquisition in the encryption industry—acquiring the non-bank major brokerage Hidden Road for USD 1.25 billion. The completion of this deal is not just a simple asset acquisition, but it also positions Ripple at the core of institutional finance.

Ripple Prime: The “Gatekeeper” of encryption trading

The integrated platform has been renamed Ripple Prime, which will provide institutional clients with one-stop clearing, prime brokerage, and financing services, covering multiple markets including forex, digital assets, derivation, swaps, and fixed income.

• Business Growth: Since Ripple first announced the transaction in April, the volume of Ripple Prime has tripled, demonstrating strong market demand for compliant institutional-level encryption services.
• Reshaping industry standards: Major brokers are the “gatekeepers” of professional trading, determining who can access leverage, which assets qualify as Collateral, and how to manage risk. By controlling this core infrastructure, Ripple can ensure that its native asset XRP or its stablecoin RLUSD receive the same institutional treatment as stocks and bonds.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated during the acquisition announcement: “With the fading of the previous SEC regulatory shadow, the U.S. market is effectively opening up for the first time, and we are at a turning point in the next phase of digital asset adoption.” The significance of this move lies not in purchasing market share, but in acquiring legitimacy and the power to set industry standards. Boosted by this news and favorable regulations, XRP has risen 8% in the past seven days, reaching a price of 2.48 USD.

RLUSD stablecoin: The strategic core of institutional Collateral

One of the core strategies of this acquisition is to enhance the usability and institutional acceptance of Ripple's stablecoin RLUSD.

Compliance and Application of RLUSD

Currently, RLUSD is being used as collateral for major brokerage products, and some derivation clients have already held their balances in the form of RLUSD.

• Compliance advantages: One of the main selling points of RLUSD is its regulatory compliance. In July of this year, Bluechip rated RLUSD as the top stablecoin in terms of stability, governance, and asset backing, which greatly enhanced its trustworthiness in the eyes of institutions.
• Market Share Challenge: Despite having compliance advantages, RLUSD's market capitalization is currently $898 million in the stablecoin market, which has a total market value of $308 billion, giving it a market share of about 0.3%, ranking 20th, far behind leaders like Tether and USDC.

In order to further consolidate its institutional position and compliance, Ripple also announced that The Bank of New York Mellon will serve as the primary reserve custodian for RLUSD, highlighting the company's commitment to meeting institutional and regulatory expectations.

Ripple's Institutional “Shopping Spree”

The acquisition of Hidden Road is the latest among Ripple's five major acquisitions in the past two years, highlighting its determination to accelerate its penetration into the institutional financial sector.

Strategic Acquisition Roadmap

• GTreasury: Just last week, Ripple announced plans to acquire the financial management system provider GTreasury for $1 billion.
• Rail: Acquired the stablecoin-driven payment platform Rail in August 2025.
• Standard Custody: Acquired Standard Custody in June 2024.
• Metaco: Acquired Metaco in May 2023.

The addition of Hidden Road brings significant scale effects to Ripple. According to Ripple's data, the platform achieves an annual cross-market settlement amount of $3 trillion and has over 300 institutional clients, which will greatly enhance Ripple's core competitiveness in global institutional digital asset services.

Conclusion

Ripple's acquisition of Hidden Road is a transfer of power that places cryptocurrency at the very center of institutional finance. By controlling key brokerage infrastructure, Ripple not only gains the ability to set industry standards but also positions its stablecoin RLUSD as a critical collateral for core institutions. For the entire cryptocurrency market, this marks an acceleration in the institutionalization of digital assets, especially against the backdrop of a gradually clarifying regulatory environment in the United States. Investors should pay attention to how Ripple Prime leverages its new clearing and financing capabilities, as well as the growth of RLUSD's market share in the stablecoin sector.