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- Ripple has finalized its acquisition of Hidden Road, underscoring its commitment to expand its infrastructure and make XRP an integral part of its operations.
- Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse has stated that the company is fully behind XRP, and has not neglected it for RLUSD as widely speculated.
In April, CNF detailed in a news update that Ripple Labs has struck an acquisition deal with crypto broker Hidden Road. According to that report, the deal involved an amount of $1.25 billion. Months after this report, Ripple has officially finalized the acquisition.
This groundbreaking move makes Ripple the first crypto company to own and operate a functional multi-asset prime broker.
Commenting on this, Ripple disclosed that this development underscores its growing infrastructure, which now encompasses stablecoin solutions, crypto custody, payments, and XRP utility.
Joining the discussion, Ripple boss Brad Garlinghouse lauded this milestone, claiming the company has successfully made five major acquisitions in the past two years. According to him, these initiatives would continue to recognize XRP as a crucial component, reemphasizing his recent commitment to the asset.
With today’s closing of Hidden Road (now Ripple Prime), Ripple has announced five major acquisitions in approximately two years (GTreasury last week, Rail in August, Standard Custody in 2024, and Metaco in 2023). As we continue to build solutions towards enabling an Internet of Value – I’m reminding you all that XRP sits at the center of everything Ripple does. Lock in.
Garlinghouse Says Ripple is Firmly Behind XRP
As noted in our recent news coverage, Garlinghouse believes that those who think Ripple is not fully behind XRP have “missed the plot.” According to him, Ripple is fully committed to the asset and would remain so.
Prior to this, there were growing concerns that Ripple had sidelined XRP to focus on its stablecoin RLUSD which has appeared at the center of some partnerships and integrations. One of these is the mention of RLUSD in the Hidden Road acquisition announcement by Ripple, claiming it would be used as a collateral asset with no mention of XRP. However, Garlinghouse argued that this has never been the case.
Ripple’s commitment to XRP and its long-term goals has been reportedly recognized in the company’s recent $1 billion deal to acquire treasury management firm GTreasury. Prior to that, Ripple had also hinted that it had reached an acquisition agreement with global payment provider Rail.
Our research shows that its acquisition spree goes far beyond 2024 when it purchased regulated enterprise-grade custodian Standard Custody for an undisclosed amount.
Ripple also spent $250 million in 2023 to purchase a Swiss-based digital asset custody firm, Metaco, as discussed earlier. Interestingly, this market has been tipped to be valued at more than $10 trillion by 2030.
Amidst the backdrop of this, the price of XRP is attempting to rebound from its current level to a new high as it surges by 3.5% in the last 24 hours and 7.9% in the last seven days. However, its monthly and 90-day returns are still down by 10% and 19% respectively, trading at $2.5.
XRP’s daily trading volume is interestingly showing high traders’ interest as it rises by 35% to $4.6 billion. As mentioned in our earlier news discussion, analyst Egrag Crypto has predicted that the asset could hit $17 once the bull market returns.
