Ripple buys second Aussie firm. Here’s what to expect from XRP-linked firm’s acquisitions in 2026

Ripple is in the final stages of buying a financial services license in Australia, allowing the crypto firm to expand its growing footprint in the region.

The developer of XRP will obtain the license by acquiring BC Payments, a subsidiary of the European payment giant Banking Circle.

The deal is expected to close in April 2026, according to a company statement on Wednesday.

Fiona Murray, the managing director of Ripple’s Asia Pacific business, called Australia a “key market” for the company. The company’s payment volume in the Asia-Pacific doubled in 2025, according to Ripple.

This is the company’s second acquisition of the year, after it bought up another Sydney-based company called Solvexia in January.

Buying up companies has been a crucial part of Ripple’s strategy over the last decade.

Nevertheless, CEO Brad Garlinghouse hinted during an industry event in November that Ripple would cool from its buying spree.

“We’ll probably slow down the acquisition binge in 2026, which makes our corporate developer team very happy,” he said.

Ripple goes institutional

Founded in 2012 as OpenCoin, Ripple pitched its XRP token as a key solution to improve cross-border commerce.

By using the XRP token as a liquidity buffer, banks and fintechs could hold the token rather than other foreign currencies, thereby facilitating forex trading.

Following a five-year legal dispute with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that concluded in May 2025, the company’s identity has fundamentally changed.

The SEC alleged in 2020 that Ripple sold $1.3 billion of unregistered securities when it sold the XRP token to investors. Instead of paying a $2 billion penalty, Ripple paid $125 million.

These days, Ripple has been on a rampant acquisition spree, positioning itself more towards institutions.

Now called Ripple Prime, the company acquired the prime brokerage Hidden Road for a reported $1.25 billion in April 2025. It also purchased a stablecoin infrastructure firm called Rail, a treasury management firm called GTreasury, and Palisade, a custody provider for crypto assets.

It’s estimated that the company splashed out more than $2.5 billion in acquisitions last year.

Liam Kelly is DL News’ Berlin-based DeFi correspondent. Have a tip? Get in touch at [email protected].