- Ripple acquires Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, integrating RLUSD and XRP into prime brokerage services.
- Ripple leverages its $100 billion XRP war chest to acquire infrastructure, echoing SoftBank’s aggressive investment strategy.
- CEO Garlinghouse hints at further acquisitions, eyeing consumer payment firms to expand Ripple’s reach beyond financial services.
Ripple’s been on a buying spree, snapping up firms to weave XRP and its stablecoin RLUSD deeper into traditional finance. The latest? A $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road, giving Ripple prime brokerage capabilities and a network of 300 institutional clients clearing $3 trillion annually. Critics are calling it a “SoftBank-type” strategy – using capital to acquire infrastructure rather than building it from scratch.
XRP’s Ecosystem Play – A Token-Fueled Flywheel
Ripple’s approach is clear: leverage its massive XRP reserves to buy strategic assets, creating a feedback loop that feeds back into XRP usage. Ripple now holds 4.56 billion XRP outright, plus another 37.13 billion XRP in escrow – a war chest valued at over $100 billion. The acquisitions of Metaco, Standard Custody, and Hidden Road have positioned Ripple to embed XRP and RLUSD as core components of financial transactions, custody, and brokerage flows.
Stablecoin Push and Future Acquisitions
Ripple isn’t done yet. CEO Brad Garlinghouse hinted at more acquisitions to come, potentially targeting a point-of-sale company to move beyond backend financial services into consumer payments. Recent reports suggest Ripple tried to buy Circle for up to $5 billion, but the offer was rejected. Meanwhile, Ripple’s push to expand RLUSD’s role could face headwinds, as stablecoin regulation in the US remains murky, and competitors like USDC and PayPal USD aren’t backing down.
