Ripple to Inject “Billions of Dollars” Following Hidden Road Buy

Digital asset firm Ripple has agreed to buy prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, promising to “inject billions of dollars of capital to provide immediate scale and satisfy the demand for the Hidden Road platform”.

Following the deal, which is expected to close in the coming months subject to regulatory approvals, Ripple says it will become the first crypto company to own and operate a global, multi-asset prime broker. Hidden Road offers clearing, prime brokerage, and financing across FX, digital assets, derivatives, swaps, and fixed income.

For the crypto industry to achieve the next phase of growth, Ripple observes that it is critical that core infrastructure is in place for institutional adoption, adding that prime brokers bring the necessary credibility and professional trading services expected in legacy finance to digital assets.

Hidden Road says it clears $ trillion annually across markets with more than 300 institutional customers. With the backing of Ripple’s balance sheet, it will exponentially expand its capacity to service its pipeline and become the largest non-bank prime broker globally, the firm adds.

“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,” says Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple. “With these tailwinds, we are continuing to pursue opportunities to massively transform the space, leveraging our unique position and strengths of XRP to accelerate our business and enhance our current solutions and technology.”