Ripple makes history as it completes one of the biggest deals in the cryptocurrency industry following its acquisition of Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. 

Ripple announced the acquisition in a blog post, emphasizing that it acquired Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. This acquisition is remarkable as it represents the company’s biggest deal and one of the largest deals in the digital asset industry. It also positions Ripple as the first crypto-focused company to own and operate a multi-asset prime broker. 

Ripple To make one of the biggest deal in the history of the cryptocurrency industry As Ripple is acquiring prime-brokerage Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. pic.twitter.com/unG57MCmn7

— TheCryptoBasic (@thecryptobasic) April 8, 2025

Hidden Road Strength 

As a fast-growing prime broker, Hidden Road provides institutional clients with comprehensive products and services, such as prime brokerage, swaps, derivatives, fixed income, digital assets, foreign exchange, and clearing. 

Launched in 2018, Hidden Road clears about $3 trillion across markets annually and serves over 300 top financial institutions. The announcement stressed that Ripple’s strong balance sheet would help Hidden Road expand its capacity to serve more clients. 

Further, the announcement emphasized that the next phase of growth in the crypto industry can only be achieved by positioning core infrastructure to drive institutional adoption. 

Notably, Ripple and Hidden Road will provide institutional clients with the promise of digital assets. They intend to achieve this by bridging the traditional and digital finance worlds. 

Benefits for XRPL Projects 

Meanwhile, the acquisition is expected to benefit several projects within the XRPL ecosystem, including Ripple USD (RLUSD) and the XRP Ledger. 

Hidden Road will leverage RLUSD, which launched last year, as a collateral asset across its prime brokerage products, positioning the token as an enterprise-grade stablecoin with real-world utility. 

The prime broker will also migrate its post-trade activity onto the XRPL. The move aims to streamline Hidden Road’s post-trade activity, reduce cost, and validate XRPL’s value proposition as a blockchain for decentralized institutional finance. 

Ripple also aims to provide efficient custody services to Hidden Road customers seeking bank-grade custody for their digital assets. 

Ripple Execs React 

Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that with the SEC ending its regulatory overreach, the crypto market is focusing on addressing traditional finance demands. In a statement on X, Garlinghouse noted that the acquisition will enable Hidden Road to leverage XRP and XRPL for instant and low-cost value movement. 

He asserted that the prime broker will no longer wait almost 24 hours to settle trades through fiat rails but can now utilize XRPL to clear some trades while using RLUSD as collateral for its prime brokerage services. 

The Ripple CEO revealed that the company has been a customer of Hidden Road for years, adding that it has first-hand knowledge of the prime broker’s expertise. Notably, Ripple also participated in Hidden Road’s Series B funding. 

In addition, Ripple CTO David Schwartz characterized the acquisition as a defining moment for XRP and XRPL. According to him, the company processes upward of $10 billion, with a daily transaction of up to 50 million. However, the company is forced to wait nearly 24 hours to settle these transactions through fiat rails. 

Interestingly, he imagines a scenario where a portion of these transactions are settled through XRPL, with the prime broker also adopting real-world assets tokenized on XRPL as collateral. 

Ripple’s acquisition of Hidden Road is a defining moment for the XRP Ledger and XRP. The prime broker clears upwards of $10B and processes over 50M transactions a day on various traditional rails, waiting up to 24 hours for those transactions to settle. Now imagine even a portion… https://t.co/xiHdyy30Sm

— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) April 8, 2025