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- Ripple has struck a deal to purchase Hidden Road, a crypto broker that clears $3 trillion yearly across all markets, for $1.25 billion.
- Ripple’s acquisition aims to use its RLUSD stablecoin as trade collateral, while Hidden Road integrates XRP Ledger for trade recording and clearing.
Ripple Labs has made one of the biggest moves in the digital asset industry by acquiring Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. This acquisition positions Ripple as the first crypto company to own and operate a global, multi-asset prime broker in the evolution of digital asset markets.
Hidden Road is a leading prime brokerage firm that provides institutions with a comprehensive suite of services, including clearing, prime brokerage, and financing across multiple asset classes such as foreign exchange (FX), digital assets, derivatives, swaps, and fixed income. With $3 trillion cleared annually and a client base of over 300 institutional clients, Hidden Road is a major player in institutional finance.
Ripple’s Stablecoin and Brokerage Services
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse emphasized that this acquisition comes at a crucial time as U.S. regulations become clearer and the digital asset market matures. He stated, “We are at an inflection point for the next phase of digital asset adoption. The U.S. market is effectively open for the first time due to the regulatory overhang of the former SEC coming to an end, and the market is maturing to address the needs of traditional finance.”
One of the key aspects of the agreement is how it impacts Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD, which was just launched in December 2024. RLUSD will serve as collateral for the entire suite of Hidden Road’s prime brokerage products, reinforcing its position as a leading enterprise-grade, USD-backed stablecoin. With this in mind, RLUSD will compete head-on with old-school incumbents like Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.
Furthermore, Hidden Road intends to shift its post-trade activities onto the XRP Ledger (XRPL), leveraging its scalability and efficiency. This action underscores XRPL’s potential to become the institutional decentralized finance (DeFi) go-to blockchain and complements Ripple’s initiatives in advancing cheap cross-border payments as well as addressing inefficiencies in the traditional financial system.
Hidden Road CEO Marc Asch was optimistic regarding the partnership, explaining that the agreement will bring new opportunities for growth, allowing the firm to increase capacity, venture into new products, and service additional markets and asset classes.
Meanwhile, another key event within the XRP space is the SEC approval of the very first leveraged XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States. Teucrium Investment, an asset manager in Vermont, has launched the Teucrium 2x Long Daily XRP ETF, which will seek to deliver double the daily performance of XRP using swap agreements.
While the broader crypto market is experiencing a downturn, a CNF update reported that XRP’s value could triple and see uncharted levels of $5 and $7 in the first half of 2025. XRP is currently valued at $1.87, a 2.10% increase from the past 24 hours.
