Through a recent announcement, Ripple has disclosed its acquisition of crypto-friendly prime broker Hidden Road for the price tag of $1.25 billion. This historic deal is among the biggest in the digital asset industry and aims to make Ripple a key player in prime brokerage.
Now, Ripple is the first major crypto firm to acquire and run a multi-asset, global prime broker. Hidden Road manages more than $3 trillion in clearing every year, and the firm has more than 300 financial institutions as its clients.
Ripple expects the acquisition to improve its institutional services for its U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD). Launched in late 2024, Hidden Road will utilize RLUSD as part of its collateral services to settle trades faster and more efficiently than fiat. Furthermore, parts of the trade settlement will take place on Ripple’s decentralized blockchain, the XRP Ledger (XRPL), which will cut processing times and costs.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that the acquisition is a critical development for the crypto industry. With U.S. regulatory limitations reportedly beginning to loosen, the deal puts Ripple in a position to connect traditional finance to digital assets like no other.
Garlinghouse asserts that outdated systems that take days to produce deals no longer impede us. With XRPL and RLUSD, we are cutting down the settlement times tremendously and modernizing the way institutional finance interacts with digital assets.
Ripple has worked with Hidden Road for quite some time and is familiar with the firm’s extensive industry knowledge. Ripple wants to invest new money in Hidden Road to help it grow. They want Hidden Road to expand into new markets and provide access to a wider range of assets, including both traditional and digital ones.
Ripple’s president Monica Long said that Ripple is looking to grow through the acquisition of companies instead of going for IPO. According to Monica, Ripple aims to make strategic partnerships and deals that would enhance their ecosystem and promote innovation.
According to Marc Asch, Hidden Road’s CEO, the partnership will allow the firm to expand its offerings and provide better service across a wider range of markets and asset types.
Ripple’s acquisition of Fortress Trust demonstrates the blockchain company’s vision of the XRP Ledger as the premier blockchain for institutional finance capable of supporting real-world asset tokenization and cross-border settlements at scale. As digital assets are evolving, Ripple is acting as a key medium between traditional finance and the next-gen decentralized space.
