XRP News Today: "Ripple Bridges Traditional Finance and Crypto with Prime Launch"

Ripple has launched a digital asset spot prime brokerage service in the United States, enabling institutional clients to execute over-the-counter (OTC) trades in cryptocurrencies like XRP and its stablecoin RLUSD. The initiative, dubbed Ripple Prime, marks a strategic expansion for the company as it integrates Hidden Road—a multi-asset prime brokerage acquired for $1.25 billion in October 2025—into its ecosystem. Ripple Prime now offers a unified platform for OTC spot trading, derivatives, swaps, and cross-margining, positioning itself as a bridge between traditional finance and digital assets, according to The Crypto Basic report.

The rollout of Ripple Prime follows months of integration work, during which Ripple tripled the size of Hidden Road's operations and infused billions in capital. The platform now supports institutions in managing portfolios across digital assets, foreign exchange, and fixed income, with XRP and RLUSD as core offerings. Michael Higgins, International CEO of Ripple Prime, emphasized that the service complements existing derivatives and OTC offerings, providing U.S. clients with tools to hedge risks and optimize liquidity, according to a TimeStabloid article.

A key feature of Ripple Prime is cross-margining, which allows institutions to collateralize OTC spot positions alongside derivatives and futures. This capability, previously unavailable in the crypto market, enhances risk management and aligns digital assets with traditional financial instruments. Ripple has also moved post-trade operations to the XRP Ledger, leveraging its near-instant settlement times to improve transparency and efficiency, a Coinotag report notes (Coinotag).

Ripple's stablecoin, RLUSD, has gained traction, recently surpassing $1 billion in market capitalization across Ethereum and the XRP Ledger. The milestone underscores growing institutional adoption, with 50 million new RLUSD tokens minted ahead of Ripple's Swell 2025 conference. The stablecoin's dollar peg, backed by cash equivalents and U.S. Treasuries, has been audited by firms like Withum, addressing concerns over stability and compliance, a TradingView piece reports (TradingView).

Ripple's expansion strategy extends beyond prime brokerage. Since 2024, the company has acquired Standard Custody & Trust Company, a U.S. crypto custodian, and Rail, a stablecoin payments firm. It has also agreed to purchase GTreasury, a treasury management software provider, to tap into the corporate finance market. These moves reflect Ripple's ambition to dominate institutional-grade crypto infrastructure, with XRP and RLUSD serving as foundational assets — as previously reported by The Crypto Basic https://thecryptobasic.com/2025/11/03/ripple-rolls-out-u-s-spot-prime-brokerage-for-digital-assets-like-xrp/.

The launch of Ripple Prime comes at a pivotal moment for the crypto sector, as regulatory clarity and technological advancements drive institutional adoption. By offering OTC trading in XRP—a token known for its cross-border settlement efficiency—and RLUSD, a stablecoin designed for reliability, Ripple addresses key barriers to mainstream participation. Analysts note that platforms like Ripple Prime could accelerate the integration of digital assets into traditional portfolios, with global crypto custody assets projected to reach $10 trillion by 2030, according to Coinotag https://en.coinotag.com/ripple-launches-prime-brokerage-enabling-xrp-and-rlusd-otc-trading-as-stablecoin-reaches-1b-cap/.