Ripple Accelerates Post-Lawsuit Expansion with $1.25B Acquisition of Hidden Road

After resolving its long-standing lawsuit, Ripple announced a major move by acquiring prime brokerage firm Hidden Road for $1.25 billion.

This comes amid a surge in crypto activity, with U.S. crypto deals reaching $8.2 billion across 88 transactions in early 2025 — already triple the 2024 total. The acquisition is seen as a major step in blending traditional finance (TradFi) with decentralized finance (DeFi). Pro-XRP attorney John Deaton praised the deal as a prime example of this fusion. Hidden Road, which handles over $3 trillion annually for 300+ institutional clients, is now integrated with the XRP Ledger (XRPL), reducing settlement times from 24 hours to just 3–5 seconds — a major breakthrough for institutional finance.