Ripple Expands Institutional Reach with Palisade Acquisition

The Palisade deal will integrate its wallet-as-a-service offering into Ripple Custody and Ripple Payments, to enhance infrastructure for banks, fintechs, and corporates. At the same time, Ripple’s new US prime brokerage will enable institutional clients to execute over-the-counter spot transactions across multiple cryptocurrencies after the company’s $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road. With over $4 billion spent on acquisitions this year already, Ripple is turning itself into a leading provider of comprehensive crypto solutions for enterprises worldwide.

Ripple Snaps Up Palisade

Ripple made another major move to strengthen its institutional crypto services by acquiring Palisade, a crypto custody and wallet company. This latest acquisition is part of its ongoing expansion into the enterprise and fintech sectors. 

The acquisition will see Palisade’s wallet-as-a-service offering integrated into Ripple Custody, the company’s crypto custody arm that is designed for banks and financial institutions. Ripple said the goal of the acquisition is to better serve a growing client base that includes fintechs, corporates, and crypto-native firms seeking reliable and compliant digital asset infrastructure.

In a statement announcing the deal, Ripple President Monica Long pointed out the growing importance of corporate adoption in the next phase of crypto expansion. “Corporates are poised to drive the next massive wave of crypto adoption,” she said. “Just as we’ve seen major banks go from observing to actively building in crypto, corporates are now entering the market, and they need trusted, licensed partners with out-of-the-box capabilities.”

The integration of Palisade’s wallet technology will extend beyond Ripple Custody. Ripple said the offering will also enhance Ripple Payments, its cross-border payments service, by adding infrastructure for subscription payments, collections, and crypto-to-fiat on and off-ramps across multiple blockchains. The company explained that the acquisition will enable it to support high-speed use cases and deeper interoperability with decentralized finance protocols — areas that are critical for institutional crypto adoption.

According to Ripple, it has spent around $4 billion on acquisitions to date, with much of that total coming from large deals made in 2025. Earlier this year, Ripple completed a $1.25 billion acquisition of prime broker Hidden Road to expand its over-the-counter crypto trading capabilities for US institutional clients. In October, it acquired GTreasury for $1 billion to boost its presence in the growing crypto treasury management sector. 

The company also purchased the stablecoin payments platform Rail in a $200 million deal expected to close by year-end. With the Palisade acquisition, Ripple is getting ready to build one of the most comprehensive institutional crypto infrastructures in the industry.

Ripple Launches Crypto Prime Brokerage in the US

Meanwhile, Ripple also expanded its presence in the United States by launching a digital asset spot prime brokerage service for institutional clients, which is yet another step in the company’s evolution from a payments provider to a full-service crypto financial platform. The announcement was made roughly seven months after Ripple revealed plans to acquire Hidden Road.

According to Ripple, the new offering will allow US-based institutional clients to execute over-the-counter (OTC) spot transactions across multiple cryptocurrencies, complementing the company’s existing OTC and cleared derivatives services. 

Announcement from Ripple

Michael Higgins, the international CEO of Ripple Prime and former Hidden Road executive, said that the new capabilities position Ripple to offer “a comprehensive suite of services” tailored to institutional trading strategies. With the integration of Hidden Road’s infrastructure, Ripple is now perfectly positioned to operate as a multi-asset prime broker for digital asset traders, providing cross-margin OTC spot trading, holdings, swaps, and access to CME-listed futures and options.

The expansion was announced ahead of Ripple’s annual Swell conference in New York City, which is usually a key event where the company unveils new partnerships and technological milestones. The move also proves Ripple’s commitment when it comes to capturing more institutional market share as traditional financial firms and crypto-native companies converge on regulated trading solutions.

Meanwhile, Ripple’s native token XRP has faced some short-term price pressure by falling about 3.9% in the last 24 hours from $2.50 to $2.35, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Despite the market volatility, Ripple certainly still wields a lot of influence in US political and regulatory circles. 

XRP’s price action over the past 24 hours (Source: CoinMarketCap)

The firm maintained a presence in Washington, with CEO Brad Garlinghouse and other executives building ties with key policymakers. In October, a Ripple representative attended a White House fundraising event connected to President Donald Trump’s planned $350 million ballroom expansion project. Ripple also supported the pro-crypto political action committee Fairshake, which helped elect several candidates seen as favorable to the digital asset industry in the 2024 elections.