Key Takeaways
Ripple acquired Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, becoming the first crypto company with a global multi-asset prime broker.
The deal enables Hidden Road to use Ripple USD as collateral and migrate post-trade activity to the XRP Ledger.
Leading asset manager Ripple announced today that it is acquiring Hidden Road, a fast-growing, crypto-friendly prime broker, in a deal valued at $1.25 billion. Set to be finalized in the coming months, pending regulatory approval, the deal is one of the largest acquisitions in the crypto sector to date.
The move also makes Ripple the first crypto firm to own and operate a global, multi-asset prime broker, the company shared in the announcement.
The announcement follows reports that Hidden Road was engaged in active takeover discussions. Last week, sources told CoinDesk that the firm, which handles both traditional and digital assets, had received an unsolicited takeover offer from a crypto-native company. The identity of the potential acquirer was not known at the time.
Hidden Road, known for servicing over 300 institutional clients and clearing more than $3 trillion annually across foreign exchange (FX), digital assets, derivatives, and fixed income, will join Ripple’s growing suite of institutional-grade offerings.
The move comes at a time when the crypto market is evolving to mirror the structure and sophistication of traditional finance.
“We are at an inflection point for the next phase of digital asset adoption – the US 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,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in a statement.
Through this acquisition, Ripple will greatly expand the reach of its flagship stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD). The token will now be used as collateral across Hidden Road’s brokerage products.
The integration marks RLUSD as the first stablecoin to enable efficient cross-margining between traditional and digital markets, a key step toward unified institutional trading, according to Ripple.
Also, as part of the deal, Hidden Road will move its post-trade operations to the XRP Ledger (XRPL) — a move that Ripple says will reduce costs and improve scalability for high-volume institutional finance.
Hidden Road CEO Marc Asch said that the acquisition would provide his company with several key benefits, like “new resources, licenses, and added risk capital,” which would fuel substantial expansion.
Asch expects the move to enable Hidden Road to scale its business, enhance its offerings, and reach a wider market.