Ripple, the developer of cryptocurrency XRP ($2.51), just became the first crypto company to own a global prime broker.

The firm completed its $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road, a non-bank prime broker. The platform, now rebranded as Ripple Prime, will offer institutions clearing, prime brokerage, and financing across foreign exchange, digital assets, derivatives, swaps, and fixed income.

Since Ripple first announced the deal back in April, Ripple Prime’s business has grown threefold, said the firm.

Owning a prime broker signals that crypto is settling into the very center of institutional finance. Prime brokers are the gatekeepers of professional trading. They determine who gets access to leverage, which assets qualify as collateral, and how risk is managed.

By controlling that infrastructure, Ripple can ensure crypto — and especially its native XRP or RLUSD ($1.00) — gets the same treatment as stocks and bonds. Indeed, it’s not about buying market share, but rather about legitimacy and the power to set standards.

XRP is up 8% to $2.48 in the past seven days.

“We are at an inflection point for the next phase of digital asset adoption,” Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO, said when the acquisition was announced.

“The US market is effectively open for the first time due to the regulatory overhang of the former SEC coming to an end.”

Collateralising RLUSD

At the centre of the deal is increased utility for Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD.

Right now, RLUSD is being used as collateral for prime brokerage products, with certain derivatives customers already holding their balances in RLUSD.

One of RLUSD’s highly touted features is its regulatory compliance. In July, Bluechip ranked RLUSD the number one stablecoin for stability, governance, and asset backing.

But the market doesn’t agree. Of the $308 billion stablecoin sector, RLUSD has fallen to 20th place, with $898 million in market value — about 0.3% of the total market.

Tether and USDC ($1.00) lead stablecoins by a wide margin.

Ripple also announced that The Bank of New York Mellon will serve as the primary reserve custodian of RLUSD, underscoring the company’s commitment to meeting institutional and regulatory expectations.

Shopping spree

Ripple has been doling out cash lately.

The deal with Hidden Road is one of five major acquisitions inked by Ripple in the past two years.

Just last week, Ripple announced plans to acquire treasury management system provider GTreasury for $1 billion. And earlier acquisitions include the stablecoin-powered payment platform Rail in August 2025, Standard Custody in June 2024, and Metaco in May 2023.

Hidden Road brings significant scale. The platform clears $3 trillion annually across markets with more than 300 institutional customers, according to Ripple.

Pedro Solimano is DL News’ Buenos Aires-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.