Ripple Acquires Hidden Road for $1.25 Billion to Expand Crypto Services

Ripple agreed last week to acquire PRIME brokerage firm Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, marking a major consolidation in the digital asset industry. According to CoinDesk, Hidden Road is currently in active acquisition negotiations. Hidden Road, which handles daily transactions across various markets, including crypto assets and fixed income, serves over 300 institutional clients. This acquisition, finalized last month, follows Kraken's purchase of NinjaTrader, an American futures trading platform, for $1.5 billion. Additionally, Stripe completed its acquisition of the stablecoin platform Most for $1.1 billion last year. Ripple aims to integrate its stablecoin, RLUSD, into Hidden Road's PRIME brokerage platform, facilitating efficient cross-margin between traditional and digital assets. The deal is expected to close in the coming months, pending regulatory approval. Ripple currently holds over 60 regulatory licenses worldwide.