Ripple Expands into Traditional Markets with New Institutional Trading Business

Ripple has made another significant move towards Wall Street and beyond its cryptocurrency roots by launching an institutional trading business called Ripple Prime. The new initiative allows hedge funds, asset managers, and other institutional clients to execute Total Return Swaps (TRS) across US-listed equities, indices, and digital assets.

This service is now live and aims to expand the firm's presence in traditional financial markets less than a year after completing its $1.25 billion acquisition of prime broker Hidden Road. Ripple Prime has expanded the scope of assets available on its platform as clients can now access equities alongside foreign exchange, fixed income, derivatives, and cryptocurrencies through a single counterparty relationship.

The company said customers can also cross-margin exposures across those different assets around the clock, potentially reducing the amount of collateral institutions need to maintain separately. Ripple Prime's President, Noel Kimmel, stated that these services are what institutional market participants are 'asking for today, and we are proud to be the ones delivering it.'