Ripple’s Buying Spree Could Redefine Global Banking — and XRP Is the Key

• Over the past 2 years, Ripple has already made five acquisitions as it grows in strength to bridge traditional finance with crypto.
• Following the completion of the $1.25 billion Hidden Road acquisition, Brad confirmed that XRP will remain a cornerstone of these initiatives.

Ripple (XRP) is now the first company in the crypto industry to own and operate a multi-asset prime broker, following the completion of its $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road, now rebranded as Ripple Prime, the most expensive deal among its recent acquisitions.

Ripple will offer investors a comprehensive trading infrastructure spanning clearing, brokerage, and trade financing across multiple markets, including foreign exchange, derivatives, cryptocurrencies, and fixed-income instruments.

On the 24th, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, reaffirmed the company’s core vision, saying, “As we continue to build solutions toward enabling an Internet of Value, I want to remind everyone that XRP sits at the center of everything Ripple does. Lock in.”

Ripple’s Financial Powerhouse

In a recent X post, digital asset researcher Anders highlighted that each of Ripple’s acquisitions serves a distinct purpose in building a unified financial infrastructure. In May 2023, Ripple acquired Swiss custody provider Metaco for about $250 million, giving Ripple access to institutional-grade custody and tokenized-asset management capabilities.

The following year, it purchased Standard Custody & Trust Company, a regulated digital-asset custodian, further strengthening Ripple’s compliance foundation and licensing footprint across multiple jurisdictions.

In August 2025, Ripple expanded its footprint into stablecoin infrastructure with the $200 million acquisition of Rail, a platform specializing in blockchain-based payments and back-office settlement solutions.

Two months later, in October, Ripple added GTreasury, a leading corporate treasury management software provider, as part of its strategy to integrate blockchain into global corporate finance operations and liquidity management.

Commenting on the company’s growing scale, LP, a market analyst, noted that “through these acquisitions, Ripple now processes over $15.5 trillion in assets, has access to 13,000 banks, and is recognized as a Swift Certified Partner.”

Adding to that, Digital Perspectives described what it calls the “Ripple Bottleneck Theory”, the idea that Ripple’s acquisitions are creating a strategic choke point for the largest traditional finance players.

By consolidating custody, settlement, payments, and DeFi infrastructure under one umbrella, this “bottleneck,” according to the theory, could channel trillions of dollars in payments, settlements, clearing, and custody flows through Ripple’s ecosystem, anchored by XRP, RLUSD, and the XRP Ledger.

Ripple Labs plans to become a fully integrated financial institution within the U.S. banking system by publicly filing a charter application with the U.S. National Trust Bank, under the proposed name Ripple National Trust Bank.

If approved, this would grant Ripple the authority to operate directly under federal banking regulations, allowing it to offer custody, payments, and settlement services on par with traditional banks, but powered by blockchain.

With the conclusion of the long-running SEC lawsuit and this buying spree, investors question the impact on XRP’s price. The token peaked in July before retreating roughly 30% amid broader market volatility. As of now, XRP is trading at $2.61, down 0.4% over the past 24 hours but still up 5% on the week, maintaining its position among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Meanwhile, Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD continues to gain traction, with its market capitalization surpassing $890 million and trading volume exceeding $70 billion, placing it firmly among the top 15 stablecoins globally.