The move puts Ripple into a lucrative market historically dominated by large Wall Street banks. The Wall Street Journal reported that Ripple has become a serious player in financing leveraged ETFs, which use derivatives to amplify exposure to individual stocks or indexes.
The expansion comes as Ripple Prime already clears more than $3 trillion annually across markets and serves over 300 institutional customers, according to Ripple.
Ripple Is Moving Into a Bank-Dominated Market
Leveraged ETFs frequently use total-return swaps rather than simply purchasing larger amounts of the underlying securities.
A prime broker can provide financing, collateral management and access to those derivatives, allowing the ETF to obtain two or three times the daily performance of an index or stock without directly holding equivalent exposure.
Ripple gained that infrastructure through its $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road in 2025. The deal transformed the company from primarily a crypto payments provider into the first crypto company to own a global multi-asset prime broker.
The significance of that acquisition has become clearer as Ripple Prime has expanded across institutional markets.
Delta One Gives Ripple a Route Into Equity Derivatives
Ripple Prime launched its Delta One business in August, offering institutional clients total-return swaps tied to U.S.-listed equities and indexes alongside digital assets.
Ripple says the platform now covers equities, foreign exchange, derivatives, fixed income and crypto through a single institutional counterparty. It also disclosed more than $1 billion in regulatory net capital for the business.
The expansion builds on the Hidden Road acquisition that first pushed Ripple into prime brokerage.
