In a major acquisition, Ripple is set to acquire prime brokerage firm Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, aiming to serve institutional clients and expand its presence.
Hidden Road, which processes over $3 trillion in foreign exchange, derivatives, digital assets, and fixed income annually, will continue to operate under its brand and expand its services leveraging Ripple's infrastructure.
Ripple plans to integrate its recently launched stablecoin RLUSD into Hidden Road's operations, allowing it to be used as collateral for cross-margining between traditional and digital asset markets.
By migrating parts of its post-trade operations onto the XRP Ledger, Hidden Road will reduce transaction costs and accelerate processing times, validating the ledger's readiness for large-scale institutional finance.