Ripple Acquires Prime Broker Hidden Road for $1.25B
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
Ripple announced its largest acquisition to date — a $1.25 billion deal to buy Hidden Road.
Founded in 2018, Hidden Road provides clearing, financing, and prime brokerage services across foreign exchange, digital assets, derivatives, and fixed income. It clears over $3 trillion annually for more than 300 institutional clients, including hedge funds.
Ripple’s move comes in the middle of a growing wave of M&A across the digital asset space. In February, Stripe acquired Bridge for $1.1 billion to help businesses accept stablecoin payments.
In March, MoonPay acquired stablecoin infrastructure platform Iron in a deal reportedly worth at least $100 million. And a week later, Kraken topped that figure with a $1.5 billion deal for NinjaTrader, expanding its presence in the U.S. retail futures market.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the deal came together after Hidden Road found itself “constrained” in growth due to balance sheet limitations and began looking for external capital.
Garlinghouse described the deal as a natural outcome of Hidden Road’s search for scale. “We are at an inflection point for the next phase of digital asset adoption,” he said.
Hidden Road’s founder, Marc Asch, added that the new backing would “unlock significant growth,” allowing the firm to expand its reach, products, and risk capacity.
Ripple was already a customer and a participant in Hidden Road’s Series B — a relationship that gave it a front-row seat to the company’s technology and risk management. The deal is expected to close in the coming months, pending regulatory approval.
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🇺🇸 Ripple said that it’s agreed to buy prime brokerage firm Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, in the crypto startup’s biggest acquisition to date. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the deal came together after Hidden Road found itself “constrained” in growth due to balance sheet limitations and began looking for external capital.
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