In a market-shocking deal, Ripple has just announced the acquisition of prime brokerage firm Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. This is considered one of the largest deals in the history of the crypto industry, marking a strategic turning point for Ripple to expand its influence in traditional finance.
Who is Hidden Road and why is Ripple willing to spend big?
#HiddenRoad was established in 2018 and is a prime brokerage that specializes in serving institutional clients in the digital asset and traditional finance markets. The company offers a wide range of services such as:
Securities lending
Cash management
Custody and transaction settlement
Transaction financing
According to internal data, Hidden Road is serving over 300 institutional clients, processing trading volumes of more than $3 trillion annually – an astonishing figure in the financial world.
Ripple's acquisition of Hidden Road is not just about expanding its service offerings, but also about gaining direct access to institutional capital – something that has always been the "golden key" for large-scale cryptocurrency adoption.
Why is this deal happening right now?
According to Ripple CEO – Brad Garlinghouse, the cryptocurrency market is entering the "next boom phase" as:
"The U.S. market has truly opened up to digital assets for the first time, after years of being weighed down by SEC oversight. Now, the market is maturing to meet the needs of traditional financial institutions."
Indeed, the easing of oversight from U.S. regulators, especially after the Trump administration changed its policy on cryptocurrencies, is opening up rare opportunities for crypto companies to scale up.
Institutional capital is flowing strongly into crypto
According to a recent survey by EY-Parthenon with 352 institutional investors:
86% reported that they currently own or plan to invest in digital assets by 2025.
Funds with over $100 million in assets under management have poured into Bitcoin ETF funds with a total value of $27.4 billion, a 114% increase from the previous quarter.
Clearly, demand from large investors is surging, and #Ripple is taking advantage of this moment to connect traditional finance with the crypto world through Hidden Road.
The Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin is deeply integrated
In addition to owning a leading brokerage firm, Ripple also announced that it will:
Integrate its stablecoin – Ripple USD (RLUSD) – into Hidden Road's products.
This allows RLUSD to be used as collateral in financial transactions, thus expanding its practical use and directly competing with major stablecoins like USDT and USDC.
The lively M&A landscape ahead of global instability
The Ripple – Hidden Road deal is happening amid a surge in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the crypto industry like never before. According to consulting firm Architect Partners:
In Q1 2025, there were 62 M&A deals, a 5% increase from the previous quarter and an astonishing 87% increase from Q3 2024.
Last month, Kraken also announced that it would acquire the NinjaTrader derivatives platform for $1.5 billion, marking one of the largest deals in the industry's history.
The reason is that businesses want to strengthen their positions before the Trump administration implements new trade tax measures, which could impact the global economy in the near future.
In conclusion: Is Ripple playing a “big game”?
Ripple has long been known for its cross-border payment solutions and a prolonged legal battle with the SEC. But now, the company is transforming into a true financial institution, connecting crypto with global institutional capital.
The $1.25 billion Hidden Road deal not only demonstrates Ripple's strong financial potential but also shows its ambition to become a liquidity hub for the global digital asset market.
If all goes well, Ripple could become the "investment bank" of the Web3 world, where the stablecoin RLUSD plays a core role in the new financial ecosystem.
Risk warning:
This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. The crypto market always carries high risks and is prone to volatility. Readers should carefully consider and fully understand before participating in any form of investment related to digital assets.
