Ripple, a leading blockchain company, recently announced its acquisition of global prime brokerage platform Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. This move makes Ripple the first crypto-native firm to own and operate a multi-asset prime broker with an established institutional network. The acquisition is seen as a significant step in deepening Ripple’s institutional service offerings and building a direct bridge between traditional financial markets and blockchain-powered ecosystems.
Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, emphasized the importance of this deal in expanding the reach of crypto into traditional financial markets and vice versa. Hidden Road offers institutional clients various services such as trade clearing, prime brokerage, and financing across different asset classes. This acquisition is expected to accelerate institutional adoption of blockchain-powered financial tools and services.
As part of the deal, Ripple plans to integrate its enterprise-grade stablecoin, RLUSD, into Hidden Road’s brokerage services. RLUSD will serve as collateral for cross-margining between crypto and traditional instruments, enabling seamless trade settlements. Additionally, Hidden Road will leverage XRP and the XRP Ledger (XRPL) to streamline trade settlement processes, reducing settlement times from hours to minutes and cutting operational costs significantly.
Garlinghouse believes that using XRPL for clearing trades and RLUSD as collateral will showcase the ledger’s ability to power enterprise-grade decentralized finance solutions. Beyond prime brokerage services, Ripple aims to enhance its cross-border payment services and offer advanced custody solutions to institutional clients through this acquisition. The ultimate goal is to provide secure, cost-effective tools that bridge the gap between digital and traditional finance on a larger scale.
This acquisition marks a significant milestone for Ripple and the crypto industry as a whole. By entering the prime brokerage space, Ripple is signaling its commitment to expanding its institutional services and driving the adoption of blockchain-powered financial solutions. With the integration of RLUSD and XRPL into Hidden Road’s services, Ripple aims to revolutionize trade settlement processes and showcase the potential of decentralized finance in the traditional financial sector.
