According to Catenaa, Ripple announced the acquisition of global prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, becoming the first cryptocurrency company to own and operate a global multi-asset prime brokerage business. Hidden Road has annual clearing volume exceeding $3 trillion and serves more than 300 institutional clients. According to reports, Hidden Road will migrate its subsequent trading operations to the XRP ledger, while Ripple's stablecoin RLUSD will be integrated into Hidden Road's collateral system for cross-margin of digital assets and traditional markets. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the acquisition is significant for digital asset adoption as the U.S. regulatory environment becomes clearer and the market infrastructure matures. Previously, Ripple had settled with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) by paying a $50 million fine.