Ripple to acquire Hidden Road for $1.25B in one of crypto’s largest deals

Despite the plunge in the price of cryptocurrencies this year, Ripple is doubling down. The crypto startup announced Tuesday it’s acquiring multi-asset prime broker Hidden Road in a $1.25 billion deal—one of the largest in its history.

This marks only the second billion-dollar-plus acquisition by a crypto company in 2025, coming at a time when digital assets are making a comeback—helped, in part, by political tailwinds. Former U.S. President Donald Trump, who is running for re-election, has openly embraced the sector, branding himself as the “crypto president.”

“The U.S. 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,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said.

Hidden Road isn’t a household name, but in institutional circles, it’s a big player. The firm clears over $3 trillion annually across various markets and serves more than 300 institutional clients. Prime brokers like Hidden Road typically support hedge funds and other large investors with clearing, securities lending, and trade execution.

For Ripple, the acquisition offers a chance to break into the traditional finance infrastructure—something no other crypto company has pulled off at this scale. Once the deal closes, Ripple will become the only crypto-native firm to own and operate a global multi-asset prime broker.

Ripple says Hidden Road will now be able to grow faster using its capital and plans to become the largest non-bank prime broker in the world.

“Ripple will also become the only crypto company to own and operate a global multi-asset prime broker due to the deal, which is expected to close in the coming months,” Reuters reported.

The acquisition also boosts Ripple’s stablecoin play. Hidden Road already uses Ripple’s dollar-pegged token, RLUSD, as collateral across its prime brokerage services. Ripple launched RLUSD last year to compete in a space largely dominated by Tether and USD Coin.

The deal is expected to close in the coming months.

Founded in 2012 by Arthur Britto, Chris Larsen, and Ryan Fugger, Ripple runs a real-time global payments network that lets banks and financial institutions send money directly to each other—no middlemen required. The company also offers an FX Market Making solution that gives enterprises access to cross-currency liquidity, either through its own internal trading desks or by tapping into a broader, competitive foreign exchange marketplace.