Ripple has secured a $200 million credit facility from funds managed by Neuberger Berman to expand the lending capacity of its institutional prime brokerage business, highlighting continued demand for financing services in the digital asset market.

The company said Monday that the debt facility will allow its Ripple Prime unit to offer more margin loans and other financing products to hedge funds, trading companies and other institutional clients active in both crypto and traditional markets. 

Ripple Prime president Noel Kimmel said the additional capital will help the unit serve a broader range of institutional clients as demand for crypto financing and brokerage services continues to grow.

Neuberger Berman is a global investment manager with more than $560 billion in assets under management. 

Ripple acquired prime brokerage platform Hidden Road in 2025 and has since tripled the unit’s revenue, according to the company. Ripple did not disclose whether the business is profitable or how much of the $200 million facility has been drawn.

Source: Fundraising Digest

Related: Ripple CEO says market structure bill not ‘done deal,’ despite compromise

Hidden Road acquisition gave Ripple a foothold in institutional brokerage

Ripple announced its acquisition of Hidden Road in April 2025 and completed the roughly $1.25 billion deal about six months later. The acquisition allowed the company to launch its institutional prime brokerage business, which was later rebranded as Ripple Prime.

Hidden Road was a global prime broker that provides clearing, financing and execution services to hedge funds, market makers and other institutional investors across digital assets and traditional markets. At the time of the acquisition, the company cleared roughly $3 trillion in annual trading volume and served more than 300 institutional clients.

The transaction marked the first known acquisition of a global prime broker by a crypto-native company, giving Ripple a direct foothold in institutional market infrastructure.

Ripple Prime has also seen growing adoption. Last month, crypto exchange operator Bullish expanded its integration with the platform to provide institutional clients with more direct access to Bitcoin options trading.

The integration gives Ripple Prime users access to Bullish’s regulated Bitcoin options market, with stablecoins including Ripple USD (RLUSD) accepted as collateral.

The Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin has a market value of more than $1.5 billion. Source: CoinMarketCap

Related: Crypto Biz: Wall Street wants more than just Bitcoin

Crypto exchange Bullish has expanded its integration with Ripple Prime to give institutional clients direct access to Bitcoin options trading, adding to existing spot, perpetual and futures connectivity through the platform’s prime brokerage network.

The integration connects Ripple Prime users to Bullish’s regulated Bitcoin (BTC) options markets, allowing trades to be funded through existing sub-accounts without additional onboarding, with stablecoins such as Ripple USD (RLUSD) supported as collateral.

RLUSD is a US dollar-pegged stablecoin designed for payments, settlement and use as collateral in digital asset markets. It has a market capitalization of about $1.57 billion, according to DeFiLlama data.

Ripple USD market cap. Source: DefiLlama

The companies said they plan to support cross-venue margin access, which would allow institutions to manage collateral across exchanges and OTC desks from a single account to improve capital efficiency.

Ripple Prime is the company’s institutional prime brokerage platform, formed after its $1.25 billion acquisition of crypto prime broker Hidden Road in 2025. It offers multi-asset brokerage, clearing and financing services and cleared more than $3 trillion in volume in 2025, according to the announcement.

Bullish said its Bitcoin (BTC) options venue ranks among the largest by open interest for crypto-settled contracts. The integration is now live, allowing Ripple Prime clients to begin accessing options markets immediately.

Shares of Bullish have declined sharply over the past year, falling more than 60% from their peak in September and trading around $36.58 at the time of writing. The stock was down roughly 8% in early trading on the day, per Yahoo Finance data.

Source: Yahoo Finance

Related: Bitcoin rally falters as AI industry weakens and CLARITY Act approval odds fall

Bitcoin options gain traction as institutions seek risk management tools

Bitcoin’s volatility has made options, which give traders the right to buy or sell an asset at a set price, an increasingly important tool for hedging and trading price swings.

In August 2025, Coinbase finalized its acquisition of Deribit, bringing the largest crypto options venue under its umbrella as part of a broader push to offer spot, futures and options trading on a single platform. 

Some corporate Bitcoin holders are also beginning to move beyond passive exposure toward more active risk management using derivatives.

Last week, Nakamoto, a Nasdaq-listed company focused on building a Bitcoin treasury strategy, said it has been running an actively managed derivatives program since early 2026, using BTC as collateral for options-based strategies designed to generate income from volatility while hedging downside risk.

Over the past year, Bitcoin options markets have remained consistently large, with total open interest standing at about $32.8 billion as of late April 2026, up slightly from roughly $30.8 billion a year earlier and peaking above $50 billion during periods of heightened activity, according to CoinGlass data.

Total Bitcoin options open interest. Source: CoinGlass

Trading is heavily concentrated on Deribit, which accounts for the majority of Bitcoin options open interest, while smaller shares are distributed across venues including CME Group, OKX, Binance and Bybit.

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JPMorgan and Mastercard said they have completed the first cross-border, cross-bank redemption of a tokenized US Treasury fund, working with Ripple’s XRP Ledger and interbank settlement rails.

The pilot transaction involved blockchain tokenization platform Ondo Finance redeeming the US Ondo Short-Term US Government Treasuries (OUSG) fund for Ripple on the XRP Ledger. Mastercard’s Multi-Token Network routed settlement instructions to JPMorgan’s Kinexys platform, which delivered US dollars to Ripple’s Singapore bank account.

“For the first time, a public blockchain and global banking infrastructure settled a cross-border transaction of a tokenized fund together in real time,” Ondo Finance said Wednesday.

Source: Ben Grossman

The pilot reflects growing collaboration between crypto firms and TradFi institutions seeking to build faster, lower-cost, global payment and settlement systems that run outside of traditional banking hours.

The pilot builds on a May 2025 test involving JPMorgan and Ondo Finance, in which a tokenized Treasury fund moved between public and permissioned blockchains.

Real-world asset tokenization has drawn growing interest from Wall Street leaders, who envision tokenizing everything from stocks and bonds to money market funds and real estate. 

More than $31.1 billion worth of real-world assets, excluding stablecoins, is currently tokenized onchain, according to RWA.xyz data. Boston Consulting Group estimated in 2022 that the tokenization market could rise to $16 trillion by 2030, while McKinsey & Co. said it could reach a more conservative $2 trillion over the same time frame. 

Related: Stablecoins behave like FX markets as liquidity splits: Eco CEO 

The New York Stock Exchange’s parent, Intercontinental Exchange, announced in January that it would launch a tokenization platform for 24/7 trading and instant settlement of stocks and exchange-traded funds using a blockchain post-trade system, marking one of the biggest developments in the tokenization space to date.

Tokenization needs regulation before widespread adoption

Despite the developments, the International Monetary Fund flagged several concerns in an April report, including that tokenization shifts risk from the banking system to shared ledgers and smart contract code, making it more difficult to intervene during “stress events.” 

The IMF added that without legal clarity over ownership records and settlement finality, tokenized markets risk being “fragmented and peripheral.” 

Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary aired these concerns on Wednesday at Consensus Miami 2026, saying that significant capital will not be tokenized until crypto market structure legislation is passed in the US and is compliant with Securities and Exchange Commission rules.

“When that occurs, it’s going to change everything,” O’Leary said at the conference.

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Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple Labs, warned Tuesday that recent progress on the digital asset market structure bill in the US Senate did not guarantee success for the legislation, speculating that the next two weeks would be crucial.

Speaking at the Consensus crypto conference in Miami, Garlinghouse said that the likelihood of the market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, passing would “drop precipitously” if not addressed in the next two weeks. According to the Ripple CEO, the bill would be “too much of a loaded issue” amid campaigns for the 2026 US midterms ongoing until the November elections.

“Do I think it’s perfect? Hell no,“ said Garlinghouse, referring to CLARITY. “I challenge you to show me any piece of legislation that we would call perfect. There’s tradeoffs and compromises, but I do think clarity is better than chaos.”

Source: Cointelegraph

The CEO’s remarks came after US Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks announced a compromise on stablecoin yield last week that could lead to the advancement of the CLARITY Act. Addressing stablecoins, as well as tokenized equities and ethics, has been one of the factors holding up the bill in the Senate since it was passed by the US House of Representatives in July 2025.

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The CLARITY Act, already advanced by the Senate Agriculture Committee in a January markup, also requires approval by the Senate Banking Committee before a vote in the full chamber. Garlinghouse and Ripple executives have been part of negotiations on the CLARITY Act between White House officials and representatives of the crypto and banking industries.

“The Clarity Act is not a future priority; it is the priority,” said Senator Cynthia Lummis, a member of the banking committee, in a Tuesday X post. “Every corner of the industry is operating under legal uncertainty that Congress has the power to fix. The Senate needs to act.”

US financial agencies already moving forward without Congress

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) signed a memorandum of understanding in March to coordinate their approach to oversight of the digital asset market structure. SEC Chair Paul Atkins said that the agency‘s approach to crypto laws provided a “beginning, not an end,” with the commission awaiting passage of the CLARITY Act.

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Anchorage Digital has integrated Marinade Finance into its platform, allowing institutional clients to stake Solana tokens through automated validator strategies while maintaining custody of their assets.

According to Thursday’s announcement, the integration gives clients direct access to Marinade’s staking strategies within Anchorage’s custody and wallet infrastructure, including its Porto self-custody wallet, without requiring external applications.

The setup separates staking delegation from withdrawal control, allowing institutions to participate in validator selection and yield generation while retaining asset control.

Clients can choose between two staking strategies: one that allocates across a curated set of roughly 30 KYC-verified validators for compliance-focused use cases, including regulated financial products such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Another dynamically distributes stake across a broader validator set spanning hundreds of operators to optimize yield.

The integration is available through Anchorage Digital’s platform and its Porto wallet, where staking, custody and asset management functions are combined within a single interface.

Anchorage Digital is a San Francisco-based crypto custody provider that operates the first federally chartered crypto bank in the United States. In January, it was reported to be seeking between $200 million and $400 million in new funding as it considers a potential initial public offering next year.

Related: Galaxy expands retail platform with SOL staking, targeting 6.5% yield

Institutional yield strategies expand from staking to Bitcoin DeFi

Institutions are increasingly seeking yield on crypto holdings without moving assets out of custody, as staking gains traction among asset managers and product issuers.

In February, Ripple expanded its custody platform through integrations with Securosys and Figment, enabling banks and custodians to offer staking without running validators or managing keys, with support across on-premises and cloud environments and built-in compliance checks.

The following month, Anchorage Digital integrated with Puffer Finance to offer liquid restaking on Ethereum, allowing clients to stake Ether (ETH) and receive pufETH, a transferable token representing a restaked position that continues earning rewards.

While staking — that is, earning rewards for securing a network — was traditionally limited to proof-of-stake assets, similar yield strategies are emerging for Bitcoin (BTC) via decentralized finance (DeFi) integrations.

Lombard recently teamed with Bitwise Asset Management to enable institutions to earn yield and borrow against Bitcoin without moving assets out of custody, combining DeFi lending and tokenized real-world assets with infrastructure from Morpho.

Similarly, Fireblocks has integrated Stacks to provide institutional access to Bitcoin-based lending and yield, using faster block times while settling transactions on Bitcoin for finality.

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Digital banking platform SoFi Technologies has launched Big Business Banking, a platform that allows companies to manage fiat and crypto transactions within a single regulated system.

According to Thursday’s announcement, the offering enables companies to hold deposits, move funds and settle transactions around the clock using either traditional currencies or digital assets, consolidating functions that have typically been split across banks, custodians and crypto service providers.

It also introduces support for issuing and redeeming the company’s stablecoin, SoFiUSD, allowing businesses to convert between fiat and onchain assets while keeping reserves within a regulated banking environment.

The rollout includes participation from companies such as Cumberland, BitGo, Bullish, B2C2, Fireblocks, Wintermute, Jupiter, Galaxy, Mesh Payments and Mastercard, reflecting early demand from trading, payments and infrastructure providers.

SoFi said the system is expected to connect with blockchain networks, including Solana, to support onchain settlement.

The move comes as the bank has been pushing deeper into digital assets. In June, SoFi resumed crypto trading, enabling users to buy, sell and hold digital assets, and expanded blockchain-based remittance services to more than 30 countries. 

In December, it launched SoFiUSD, a fully reserved dollar-backed stablecoin issued by its banking subsidiary, redeemable on demand and initially deployed on Ethereum.

Related: Standard Chartered says faster stablecoin turnover could curb demand

Crypto companies build digital asset infrastructure for institutions

While SoFi is expanding from the banking side, crypto-native companies are building similar infrastructure to integrate digital assets into institutional systems.

In March, crypto infrastructure platform BitGo launched a financing platform that enables institutions to borrow and lend against liquid, staked and locked assets within a single custody account.

In January, Fireblocks acquired crypto accounting platform TRES for $130 million, adding tax and compliance capabilities as institutions seek audit-ready reporting for digital asset operations.

This week, Ripple added digital asset capabilities to its treasury platform, enabling companies to manage crypto and fiat balances in one system.

Beyond expanding services for institutional clients, several platforms are also pursuing US banking licenses. On Wednesday, crypto exchange EDX Markets applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust bank, aiming to separate custody and settlement from trading through a non-depository entity called EDX Trust.

Earlier this month, Zerohash applied for a national trust bank charter to expand its stablecoin and custody services, joining applicants including Coinbase, Laser Digital and Payoneer as companies seek regulatory approval to offer integrated crypto financial services.

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EDX Markets, an institutional crypto exchange, has applied to the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank that would provide crypto custody, asset management and trade-settlement services.

The proposed entity, EDX Trust, would operate as a non-depository national bank, separating custody and settlement from trading while continuing to route order matching through EDX’s existing platform.

In its application, the company said the model is intended to address structural risks in crypto markets, where trading, custody and brokerage are often combined within a single platform, creating potential conflicts of interest and single points of failure.

EDX said the trust bank would provide fiduciary asset management services, invest client cash and stablecoin balances in highly liquid assets, and facilitate trading through a riskless principal model with end-of-day net settlement.

The bank would operate online from Chicago and target institutional clients such as broker-dealers, futures commission merchants and registered investment advisers, according to the filing.

EDX said moving these functions into an OCC-chartered entity would allow it to offer services nationwide under a single regulatory framework while meeting custody requirements for regulated institutions.

Founded in 2022, EDX Markets is backed by traditional market participants including Citadel Securities, Virtu Financial, Fidelity Digital Assets and Hudson River Trading.

Related: Fed’s Barr backs stablecoin clarity but warns of run risks

Crypto companies seek US bank charters

The application comes as crypto and financial companies increasingly pursue national trust bank charters to expand institutional services under federal oversight.

Earlier this month, Zerohash, a blockchain infrastructure company, applied for a US national trust bank charter to expand its stablecoin and custody services for banks, brokerages and fintechs.

Other recent applicants include Coinbase, which applied in October and is still awaiting a decision, as well as Laser Digital and Payoneer, which filed applications earlier this year to expand custody and stablecoin-related payment services.

Traditional financial institutions are also entering the space. In February, Morgan Stanley applied for a de novo trust bank charter to support digital asset services through a separate entity.

At the same time, the OCC has continued approving applicants, issuing conditional licenses last month to Bridge, Stripe and Crypto.com, following approvals in December for Ripple Labs, Circle Internet Group, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paxos and BitGo.

However, the pace of approvals has drawn scrutiny. In February, the American Bankers Association urged the OCC to slow the process, citing unresolved oversight under pending US stablecoin legislation.

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Ripple has added digital asset capabilities to its treasury management platform, allowing corporate finance teams to hold, track and manage cryptocurrencies and fiat balances within a single system, the company said.

According to a company announcement, the update introduces Digital Asset Accounts and a unified dashboard that aggregates balances across bank accounts, custody providers and onchain wallets, giving treasury teams real-time visibility into both cash and digital assets.

The system supports assets including XRP (XRP) and Ripple USD (RLUSD), with balances updated in real time and recorded alongside fiat transactions. APIs connect external custodians and sync activity into the platform, according to Ripple.

Ripple said the update embeds digital asset functionality directly into its treasury system, rather than requiring separate crypto platforms. The company said this could reduce reliance on manual reconciliation and fragmented reporting across banking and custody systems.

Mark Johnson, chief product officer at Ripple, told Cointelegraph the shift is about making digital assets “a core part of treasury operations,” allowing companies to manage them alongside traditional balances while enabling use cases such as stablecoin settlement and yield on idle cash.

The launch follows Ripple’s October acquisition of GTreasury for $1 billion. The company said the product is already live for customers in beta ahead of a broader rollout, with availability varying by jurisdiction depending on regulatory requirements and geography.

Related: Ripple CEO says stablecoins could be crypto’s ‘ChatGPT moment’ for businesses

Digital assets move into financial infrastructure

A survey published by Ripple in March found that 72% of more than 1,000 global finance leaders believe companies must offer digital asset solutions to remain competitive, reflecting growing focus on custody, security and infrastructure.

The findings point to a broader shift from adoption to integration, as institutions look to incorporate these assets into existing financial systems rather than manage them separately.

That transition is driving increased activity across financial infrastructure. In July, Visa expanded its settlement platform to support additional stablecoins and blockchain networks, building on its initial use of USDC (USDC) for settlement in 2021.

Banks have also begun integrating tokenized money into their operations. In November, JPMorgan expanded access to its JPM Coin deposit token, allowing institutional clients to move funds on blockchain networks for real-time settlement.

Similar efforts are emerging in credit and capital markets. In October, Securitize and BNY Mellon said they would collaborate to bring instruments such as collateralized loan obligations onchain.

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Cross-border payment infrastructure provider Tazapay said it closed an extension to its Series B funding round led by Circle Ventures, bringing the total raised to $36 million. The round included participation from Coinbase Ventures, CMT Digital, Peak XV Partners and Ripple. 

Tazapay said on Thursday that the funding will be used to • expand its digital settlement technology for cross-border payments, secure additional licenses, expand across Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and the Americas, and build infrastructure for so-called “agentic payments.”

Tazapay said it serves over 1,000 enterprises and fintechs across 30 countries. It holds licences across Singapore, Canada, Australia, and the United States, with active applications underway in the European Union, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong.

“The demand we’re seeing from enterprises and fintechs across Asia, LATAM, and the Middle East is unmistakable; businesses want to move money faster, cheaper, and with full regulatory confidence,” said Kanupriya Sharda, chief business officer at Tazapay.

Cointelegraph asked Tazapay whether it would disclose the size of the extension tranche and the company’s valuation, but had not received a response by publication.

Stablecoin payment infrastructure draws backers

The extension comes as crypto and fintech firms push deeper into stablecoin-based cross-border payments infrastructure.

On March 3, Ripple said it had expanded Ripple Payments into an end-to-end stablecoin and fiat platform for banks and fintechs. The company said the platform is live in more than 60 markets and has processed more than $100 billion in volume.

Related: Ripple joins Singapore sandbox to test RLUSD in trade finance

In May 2025, Boston-based cross-border payment company Conduit raised $36 million in a Series A funding round led by Dragonfly and Altos Ventures to scale its payment system and expand fiat and stablecoin currency offerings.

Conduit positions its payment system as an alternative to the SWIFT messaging network, which banks have relied on to process wire transfers since the 1970s.

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