Ripple Bets Big on Institutional Crypto with Hidden Road Acquisition

Ripple is making a major play for institutional dominance with its $1.25 billion acquisition of prime brokerage firm Hidden Road. The move marks one of the largest merger and acquisition deals in crypto to date and reflects Ripple’s strategy to grow beyond payments and deepen its appeal to heavyweight financial institutions.

According to Fortune, the acquisition, paid through a mix of cash, stock, and XRP, is expected to close in the coming months, pending regulatory approval. Prime brokers like Hidden Road are critical to the financial ecosystem, offering trading, custody, and lending services to hedge funds, banks, and other large players. Ripple plans to inject billions in capital to help scale Hidden Road’s operations immediately.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said, “Ripple needs to make sure we have the infrastructure in place to appeal and expand to a larger segment of the biggest bracket institutions.”

As part of the integration, Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin will be used as collateral within Hidden Road’s platform. The XRP Ledger is also being explored to enhance settlement speed and efficiency.

The acquisition comes amid a more favorable U.S. regulatory climate for crypto, with institutions like Fidelity and BNY Mellon showing increased interest in embracing crypto. Founded in 2018, Hidden Road processed $3 trillion in transfers last year and counts Citadel Securities and Coinbase Ventures among its early backers.