Ripple has expanded its institutional trading services with the launch of support for real-world asset (RWA) perpetual swaps through Ripple Prime. Announced on October 15, 2026, the offering gives institutional clients, including Virtu, access to swaps referencing more than 100 markets across equities, equity indices, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), metals, energy and foreign exchange. The products are designed to trade and settle around the clock, including weekends, extending access beyond the operating hours of many traditional financial markets.
The launch connects traditional asset exposure with digital-asset trading infrastructure. Rather than requiring institutions to rely exclusively on conventional market schedules, the service enables clients to manage positions linked to traditional asset classes during periods when underlying exchanges may be closed. However, continuous trading in a derivative does not mean the underlying stock, commodity or currency market itself is open 24 hours a day.
How Ripple Prime’s RWA Swaps Work
According to Ripple, the RWA swaps are traded through Ripple Prime as principal and reference perpetual futures contracts listed by Trade.xyz on Hyperliquid, a decentralized derivatives venue. Perpetual contracts are derivatives without a conventional expiry date. Their pricing and trading mechanisms are designed to keep contract prices aligned with the referenced market, although prices can diverge, particularly during volatile periods or when underlying markets are closed.
The reference markets span several major asset categories. Equities and equity indices provide exposure linked to individual stocks and broader stock-market performance, while ETFs represent funds traded on exchanges. Metals and energy markets add commodity-linked exposure, and foreign exchange products allow institutions to trade contracts referencing currency pairs. The availability of more than 100 reference markets gives clients a broader range of instruments for managing exposure through one prime brokerage relationship.
Ripple Prime also offers cross-margining across supported asset classes. This allows eligible clients to manage margin requirements across multiple positions rather than treating every position entirely in isolation. The approach can improve capital efficiency, but it also means losses in one position may affect the margin available to support others. Actual requirements depend on the client’s portfolio, applicable terms and risk controls.
Another feature is the ability to use Ripple USD (RLUSD) as collateral for RWA swap transactions, subject to jurisdictional availability and product requirements. RLUSD is Ripple’s U.S. dollar-linked stablecoin. Using it as collateral could help institutions deploy digital-dollar liquidity within the trading framework without relying exclusively on traditional collateral arrangements.
Why the Launch Matters for Institutional Crypto Trading
The service reflects growing interest in derivatives that connect traditional financial markets with blockchain-based trading venues. Institutional traders may want to adjust exposure when news breaks outside conventional exchange hours, hedge existing positions or respond to developments across global markets. Round-the-clock derivatives can provide another tool for those activities, although the usefulness of each market depends on liquidity, pricing quality and execution conditions.
Ripple Prime’s unified approach is aimed at combining trade execution, digital collateral management and risk oversight. Michael Higgins, International CEO of Ripple Prime, said institutional clients are seeking exposure to equities, commodities and currencies alongside the continuous access offered by digital infrastructure. The company says its experience with clearing trades and managing collateral across venues supports the new service.
Virtu is among the institutions using the offering. Scotte Moegling, the firm’s head of business development for digital assets, said Ripple Prime’s 24/7 cross-margining helps Virtu expand its presence across emerging liquidity pools more efficiently. Its participation signals institutional interest, but the announcement does not disclose trading volumes, client numbers or the scale of Virtu’s activity through the service.
Ripple also points to growth in trading volumes for perpetual futures linked to real-world assets during 2026. The company did not provide specific figures in the announcement, so the size of that increase cannot be quantified from the release alone. Broader adoption will depend on institutional demand, market liquidity, regulatory conditions and whether these instruments deliver practical benefits compared with existing derivatives.
The offering is currently available through Ripple Prime’s CIV BVI license, with the company intending to expand into additional regions. Access and RLUSD collateral eligibility may vary by jurisdiction, and institutional clients must confirm the applicable requirements with Ripple.
For the crypto market, the launch adds another institutional use case for digital-asset infrastructure beyond spot cryptocurrency trading. Ripple Prime is bringing traditional asset references, continuous derivatives access and stablecoin collateral into a single brokerage framework. Its long-term significance will depend on liquidity, risk management and sustained institutional participation across the newly supported markets.
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