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Cryptocurrency company Ripple announced Tuesday it has agreed to acquire prime brokerage Hidden Road for $1.25 billion.

Why it matters: Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse sees the acquisition as a way to speed up its stablecoin business, which launched at the end of 2024.

Hidden Road clears roughly $3 trillion annually across digital and traditional assets, and has some 300 institutional customers. 

Ripple sees the opportunity to eventually make its stablecoin RLUSD the default in those transactions.

Hidden Road uses RLUSD as collateral in prime brokerage products currently.

State of play: Ripple, best known for its payments and lending businesses, owned a roughly 1% stake in Hidden Road before the deal.

Earlier this year, it said it had agreed to settle an longstanding SEC lawsuit over allegedly selling unregistered securities.

Both chambers of Congress meanwhile are working to create stablecoin legislation, which could pave the way for banks — which have largely stayed out of the game — to enter.

Zoom in: The deal was largely cash, says Garlinghouse, with a portion paid in stock and in XRP tokens.

Hidden Road's investors include Greycroft, Castle island Ventures, and Dragonfly Capital and Citadel.

This comes after Stripe acquired stablecoin business Bridge for $1.1 billion earlier this year, and stablecoins in circulation have surged from $154 billion a year ago to $234 billion today, per DeFiLlama.

By the numbers: The crypto markets have been laced with dealmaking caffeine since Trump's election, with deal values up 1,000% in Q1 2025 to $2.2 billion compared to a year earlier, per Architect Partners.

Crypto-land has seen three $1 billion-plus M&A deals announced in the last 12 months, including Stripe's $1.1 billion buy of Bridge.

In contrast, U.S. M&A deal values were down 14% compared to the same period a year earlier.

The bottom line: Stablecoins are powering crypto dealmaking right now.

allegedly selling unregistered securities

Ripple to buy Hidden Road for $1.3B, fresh off SEC settlement

Ripple's deal comes fresh off its SEC settlement.

Illustration of Benjamin Franklin peering out from behind a pile of crypto coins.

Cryptocurrency company Ripple announced Tuesday it has agreed to acquire prime brokerage Hidden Road for $1.25 billion.Why it matters: Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse sees the acquisition as a way to speed up its stablecoin business, which launched at the end of 2024.

Ripple to buy Hidden Road for $1.3B, fresh off SEC settlement

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