Ripple has announced its acquisition of Hidden Road, a global prime brokerage firm, for $1.25 billion.
This deal marks one of the largest transactions in the digital assets space and positions Ripple as the first crypto company to own and operate a multi-asset prime broker.
Hidden Road, known for its advanced services in clearing, financing, and brokerage across foreign exchange (FX), digital assets, derivatives, swaps, and fixed income, processes over $3 trillion annually for more than 300 institutional clients. The acquisition will allow Ripple to leverage Hidden Road’s expertise to bridge traditional finance and decentralized finance (DeFi) at scale.
Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, emphasized the significance of the deal:
“We are at an inflection point for the next phase of digital asset adoption. With regulatory clarity emerging in the U.S. and market maturity addressing institutional needs, this acquisition enables us to transform the space further.”
Ripple plans to integrate Hidden Road’s operations into its ecosystem, enhancing liquidity optimization for cross-border payments and providing secure custody solutions for institutional clients.
Ripple’s USD-backed stablecoin (RLUSD) will play a pivotal role in Hidden Road’s operations by enabling efficient cross-margining between traditional markets and digital assets. Additionally, Hidden Road will migrate its post-trade activities to Ripple’s XRP Ledger (XRPL), streamlining operations and reducing costs. This move underscores XRPL’s potential as a preferred blockchain for institutional DeFi applications.
Marc Asch, CEO of Hidden Road, expressed optimism about the partnership:
“With Ripple’s resources and risk capital backing us, we can expand our capacity and product offerings while delivering the reliability institutional clients expect in traditional markets—optimized for a digital world.”
Ripple’s acquisition aligns with its strategy to drive institutional adoption of digital assets by providing compliant infrastructure that facilitates tokenization, storage, exchange, and movement of assets globally. With over 60 regulatory licenses worldwide and a decade of industry experience, Ripple continues to establish itself as a trusted name in enterprise blockchain solutions. The deal will close in the coming months, pending regulatory approvals.
Notably, Ripple has partnered with Chipper Cash to utilize blockchain technology to enhance cross-border payments in Africa. This collaboration aims to make international transactions faster, cheaper, and more efficient for Chipper Cash’s millions of users across several African nations.
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