Ripple has officially completed its acquisition of non-bank prime broker Hidden Road and rebranded it as Ripple Prime, marking a historic step in institutional crypto finance. The integration, announced on October 24, 2025, makes Ripple the first crypto-native company to fully own and operate a global, multi-asset prime brokerage. Ripple Prime will offer services across digital assets, foreign exchange, derivatives, swaps, and fixed income, bridging traditional finance with blockchain infrastructure.
XRP and RLUSD at the Core
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse reaffirmed on X that XRP remains central to everything Ripple does. He noted that Ripple Prime is expected to accelerate XRP adoption for cross-border settlements and liquidity provisioning. Additionally, Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD will see significantly enhanced utility through the prime brokerage platform. According to Ripple, “RLUSD is already being used as collateral for several prime brokerage products, and certain derivatives customers have opted to hold their balances in RLUSD.” The stablecoin received an ‘A’ rating from research firm Bluechip in July 2025, recognized for its stability, governance, and asset backing. The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) serves as its primary reserve custodian.
Business Growth and Strategic Expansion
Since the initial announcement of the acquisition, Ripple Prime’s business has grown by 3x, with further expansion expected as new and existing clients onboard. Hidden Road founder and CEO Marc Asch is collaborating closely with Garlinghouse and Ripple’s leadership to integrate operations and extend institutional reach globally. This acquisition is Ripple’s fifth major deal in roughly two years, following purchases of GTreasury, Rail, Standard Custody, and Metaco. Garlinghouse emphasized: “We continue building solutions for an Internet of Value – XRP sits at the center of everything.”
Ripple Prime represents a pivotal moment in the convergence of traditional capital markets and decentralized finance. By offering a fully regulated, multi-asset prime brokerage, Ripple enables large institutions to access digital assets, derivatives, and cross-asset liquidity through a single platform. The move is expected to drive mainstream adoption of XRP and RLUSD while establishing Ripple as a leading infrastructure provider for the next generation of global finance.