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Ripple Just Became The First Crypto Firm To Own A Global Multi-Asset Prime Broker
Ripple, a financial technology company that offers crypto solutions for businesses, today announced the launch of digital asset spot prime brokerage capabilities for the United States market, following the completion of its acquisition of multi-asset prime broker Hidden Road in October 2025.
US-based institutional clients are now able to execute over-the-counter (OTC) spot transactions across dozens of the most prominent digital assets, including XRP and RLUSD, via Ripple Prime. With this launch, Ripple Prime now supports all major digital asset product types in the US, spanning OTC spot and derivatives, clearing and financing.
Earlier this year, Ripple announced its intent to acquire Hidden Road, one of the fastest growing non-bank prime brokers in the world, offering institutions a one-stop shop for advanced services including clearing, prime brokerage and financing across foreign exchange (FX), digital assets, derivatives, swaps and fixed income. The acquisition closed in October 2025 and Hidden Road is now fully integrated and operating as Ripple Prime.
The acquisition marks an important milestone for Ripple, making it the first crypto company to own and operate a global, multi-asset prime broker and bring the promise of digital assets to institutional customers at scale. Since the initial announcement of the acquisition, Ripple Prime’s business has grown by three times, and further expansion from both new and existing customers is expected as the combined platform scales.
Michael Higgins, International CEO, Ripple Prime
"The launch of OTC spot execution capabilities complements our existing suite of OTC and cleared derivatives services in digital assets and positions us to provide US institutions with a comprehensive offering to suit their trading strategies and needs."
— Michael Higgins, International CEO, Ripple Prime
With this launch, Ripple Prime’s US-based clients can cross-margin OTC spot transactions and holdings with the rest of their digital asset portfolio, including OTC swaps and CME futures and options. This is intended to improve capital efficiency and provide a more integrated risk and collateral management framework for institutional trading firms operating across both crypto and listed derivatives markets.
The synergies between Ripple and Hidden Road made this acquisition a logical next step to support institutional adoption of digital assets. Ripple’s foundational digital asset infrastructure across payments, crypto custody and stablecoin – as well as the use of XRP – will complement the services offered within Ripple Prime. Over time, Ripple Prime will look to leverage blockchain capabilities more deeply in its business to streamline operations, enhance transparency and optimise costs.
Ripple Prime will significantly enhance the utility and reach of Ripple’s US dollar stablecoin, RLUSD. Today, RLUSD is being used as collateral for a number of prime brokerage products, and certain derivatives customers have already opted to hold their balances in RLUSD. Usage is expected to grow substantially in the coming months as more institutions integrate RLUSD into their trading and treasury operations.
RLUSD’s robust regulatory and risk framework has made it widely trusted by institutions, providing them with the necessary assurance to incorporate it into their financial workflows. In July, RLUSD was ranked the number one stablecoin for stability, governance and asset backing by Bluechip, which awarded it an “A” rating. Ripple has also announced that The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY) will serve as the primary reserve custodian of RLUSD, underscoring Ripple’s commitment to meeting the highest expectations of institutional users and regulators.
This is one of five major acquisitions by Ripple in the past two years, as the company builds a comprehensive institutional digital asset platform. Recent transactions include an announcement to acquire treasury management system provider GTreasury, the acquisition of stablecoin-powered payment platform Rail in August 2025, the acquisition of Standard Custody in June 2024 and digital asset custody provider Metaco in May 2023. Together, these businesses – alongside Ripple Prime and Ripple’s core payments and custody offerings – are designed to provide institutions with an end-to-end digital asset stack.
Both teams are now focused on continued integration, with Hidden Road Founder and CEO Marc Asch working directly alongside Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and the rest of the Ripple leadership team.
Ripple Prime is emerging as a central gateway for institutional digital asset activity – from spot and derivatives trading to financing and collateral management – underpinned by Ripple’s payments and custody infrastructure and the growing role of RLUSD in institutional markets.
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