Ripple’s latest strategic moves have raised eyebrows—and comparisons. With its recent $1.25 billion purchase of Hidden Road, the blockchain giant appears to be following a bold acquisition-driven roadmap that some liken to the legendary strategy of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. But is Ripple really writing its own version of the SoftBank playbook, or is it charting a path all its own?
Let’s unpack what’s going on.
Ripple’s Big Buy: Hidden Road
On April 8, Ripple acquired Hidden Road, a prominent prime brokerage firm, in a deal valued at $1.25 billion. This acquisition gives Ripple a powerful new lever: the ability to use its upcoming stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), as collateral within Hidden Road’s institutional products. In addition, Hidden Road’s post-trade operations are expected to transition to the XRP Ledger—Ripple’s blockchain network and the backbone of its XRP token.
Ripple is clearly positioning XRP and RLUSD as integral to the financial plumbing of the future. By controlling custody, trading, and now prime brokerage rails, the company is weaving its native assets deeper into institutional finance.
SoftBank Comparisons: Do They Hold Up?
Austin King, co-founder of Omni Network and a former Ripple insider (having sold Strata Labs to the firm in 2019), sees Ripple’s aggressive M&A activity as reminiscent of SoftBank’s empire-building days. SoftBank famously turned a modest $20 million bet on Alibaba into $60 billion, and has funneled its winnings into everything from semiconductors (ARM) to telecom (Sprint) through bold acquisitions.
“Ripple’s leveraging XRP in a similar way SoftBank used its capital—acquiring critical infrastructure and building an ecosystem around it,” King told Cointelegraph.
There’s logic to the comparison. Both companies prioritize control of pipelines—whether those are data and telecom lines or financial settlement rails. Both use massive war chests to fund acquisitions: Ripple holds over 4.5 billion XRP (roughly $11 billion), with an additional 37 billion XRP (around $90 billion) locked in escrow.
Still, some experts are cautious about drawing too close a parallel.
Sid Powell, CEO of institutional lender Maple, notes that SoftBank acts more like a global investment powerhouse across diverse sectors, while Ripple is laser-focused on blockchain-based financial infrastructure. “Ripple’s strategy is more vertically integrated, and tied directly to expanding the use cases for XRP and RLUSD,” he explained.
Casper Johansen of Spartan Group agrees the comparison might be overstated. “SoftBank succeeded by making early bets on massive companies and flipping them or scaling them dramatically. Ripple, in contrast, is building a financial stack around its own assets,” he noted.
Building the Financial Stack
Ripple’s acquisitions go beyond Hidden Road. In 2023, it snapped up custody firm Metaco. Earlier in 2024, it added Standard Custody. Together, these deals position Ripple as a full-service blockchain finance provider—from safekeeping to trading to settlement.
Johansen adds that the Hidden Road acquisition is a game-changer for capital deployment: “Ripple can now inject its balance sheet into brokerage operations where capital is king.”
Ripple is not alone in this M&A sprint. Competitors like Kraken and Coinbase have also made multibillion-dollar acquisitions in 2024. As US regulators slowly open the gates to more crypto innovation, consolidation is accelerating.
Ripple’s Legal Cloud Clears—And Ambitions Grow
Ripple recently scored a key legal win, settling its long-standing dispute with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. CEO Brad Garlinghouse has signaled a more favorable regulatory outlook going forward, suggesting that the firm is poised to scale even faster.
Garlinghouse has hinted that Ripple’s acquisition appetite isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Recent rumors suggested the firm even made a multibillion-dollar bid to acquire stablecoin issuer Circle, though that offer was reportedly rejected.
Looking ahead, insiders speculate that Ripple may move into point-of-sale infrastructure to extend its reach into consumer payments—further integrating RLUSD into everyday transactions.
XRP, RLUSD, and the Stablecoin Battlefield
Despite these ambitious moves, challenges remain. As Hadley Stern of Marinade notes, XRP’s real-world settlement role remains limited due to its volatility. RLUSD, Ripple’s stablecoin answer, has greater promise—but still faces stiff competition from heavyweights like USDC and PayPal USD.
Meanwhile, in Washington, the regulatory framework for stablecoins remains murky. The GENIUS Act—one of the most promising federal attempts to set guardrails for stablecoins—stalled in the Senate earlier this month.
The Bottom Line
Whether Ripple is following SoftBank’s trail or forging its own hybrid strategy, one thing is clear: it’s not playing small. With billions in reserves, a growing ecosystem of acquisitions, and regulatory clarity finally on the horizon, Ripple is positioning itself as a central node in the future of global finance.
The real question isn’t whether Ripple is copying SoftBank. It’s whether Ripple’s XRP-and-stablecoin-driven model can succeed where others have stumbled—and finally bring blockchain to the heart of institutional money.
