Ripple has agreed to buy Hidden Road, a crypto prime broker, in a deal worth $1.25 billion. It is one of the largest acquisitions in the crypto sector—behind only Kraken’s $1.5 billion purchase of NinjaTrader and slightly ahead of Stripe’s $1.1 billion deal for Bridge. A separate $1.2 billion deal, involving Galaxy Digital’s interest in BitGo, was discussed but never finalised. The Ripple-Hidden Road agreement highlights two key points: the rising dominance of crypto prime brokers and the growing role of stablecoins. While the stablecoin side involves enabling Ripple’s stablecoin to be used as collateral across ... (full story)