Ripple has committed in writing to moving Ripple Prime, a business that clears more than $3 trillion a year, onto the XRP Ledger. Yet with XRP trading around $1.08, the settlement volume alone would do almost nothing for the token — the only route that turns the plan into real demand is collateral, and no firm outside Ripple accepts XRP for that yet.
Ripple owns a business that clears more than $3 trillion in trades every year, and it has committed in writing to moving that business onto the XRP Ledger. A move that size sounds like it should transform the price, but the business can succeed on the ledger without XRP going anywhere.
Ripple bought a $3 trillion broker and promised it to the ledger
In April 2025, Ripple paid $1.25 billion for Hidden Road, a prime broker that gives hedge funds one account for clearing, financing, and settlement. The deal closed in October, was partly paid in XRP, and now operates as Ripple Prime, making Ripple the first crypto company to own a global, multi-asset prime broker.
Ripple Prime clears more than $3 trillion a year for over 300 institutional clients, and the business has roughly tripled in size since the acquisition was announced. Ripple’s announcement committed to moving the post-trade activity onto the XRP Ledger to lower costs.
Why settlement volume barely touches the price
Even if trillions in post-trade activity run across the ledger, the money still has to find a route to the token — and there are only three. The first is transaction fees, which get burned when paid. But all transactions since 2013 have burned about 14.3 million XRP combined, worth roughly $15 million, so settlement volume would barely dent the supply.
The second route is collateral, which could actually move the price, since tokens have to be bought and locked to be pledged. XRP already serves as collateral inside Ripple Prime alongside Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins. The third route is the uncomfortable one: even inside Ripple’s business, the asset doing the money work is mostly RLUSD, its dollar stablecoin.
Wall Street hasn’t said yes
Everything promising about the plan needs banks and clearing firms to agree, and so far none have. XRP as collateral currently operates inside Ripple’s own brokerage, which means Ripple accepting its own asset. No outside bank has said it will take XRP as collateral, and no date has been set.
The market has made its feelings clear. Ripple Prime has roughly tripled since the deal was announced, while the XRP price nearly halved over the same stretch. Until the first outside firm accepts XRP as collateral, the migration keeps paying Ripple the company while the token waits.
Source: 24/7 Wall St.
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