Ripple Prime adds round-the-clock trading for real-world asset swaps
DeFi & Yields ·
Ripple's institutional brokerage arm now offers perpetual swap contracts tied to traditional assets, giving clients continuous market access regardless of conventional trading hours.
Ripple Prime has begun offering real-world asset perpetual swaps to institutional clients, opening exposure to more than 100 reference markets across equities, exchange-traded funds, metals, energy and currencies, according to CryptoPotato. The swaps are structured as principal and reference perpetual futures listed through trade.xyz on Hyperliquid.
The core appeal is timing: unlike conventional equity and commodity markets that close on evenings and weekends, these instruments trade continuously. Ripple Prime's International CEO, Michael Higgins, said the structure lets institutions act on market-moving events outside standard exchange hours, framing the move as a bridge between traditional asset exposure and the always-on nature of digital infrastructure.
Clients can also cross-margin their new RWA swap positions against other holdings already supported by Ripple Prime, and RLUSD is accepted as collateral for trades. That setup lets institutions consolidate risk and margin management across multiple asset classes under a single counterparty rather than splitting exposure across separate venues.
The launch extends a broader institutional push. Ripple Prime recently deepened its relationship with Brevan Howard, supplying multi-asset prime brokerage, clearing and financial services to the firm. It has also entered leveraged ETF swap financing, a segment long dominated by large banking institutions. Both moves build on Ripple's $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road last year, which was subsequently rebranded as Ripple Prime.
Not yet detailed is how trading volume or client uptake on the new RWA swaps will be measured, or whether additional reference markets beyond the initial 100-plus will be added. It also remains to be seen how the leveraged ETF financing business scales relative to established bank-run desks, and whether further partnerships akin to the Brevan Howard arrangement will follow.