Ripple expands institutional trading with stock and commodity perpetual swaps

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Ripple expands institutional trading

Highlights

Ripple Prime adds perpetual swaps across more than 100 traditional-asset markets.
Real-world-asset perpetual open interest reaches approximately $9 billion.
Cross-margining and institutional controls support Ripple's Wall Street expansion.

The new service from Ripple Prime covers more than 100 reference markets, including equities, stock indexes, exchange-traded funds, and commodities. The offering operates through Trade.xyz, a major venue for traditional-asset perpetual contracts on Hyperliquid, and follows Ripple Prime's introduction of cryptocurrency perpetual futures in February, Bloomberg reports.

Ripple Prime broadens access to traditional assets

Perpetual swaps allow traders to take leveraged positions without a fixed expiration date, unlike conventional futures contracts. Their structure has become increasingly popular in cryptocurrency markets, where trading continues throughout weekends and holidays.

Ripple Prime is extending that model to assets normally traded during set exchange hours. Institutional clients can use the contracts to manage price exposure when underlying stock or commodity markets are closed.

The platform also supports cross-margining, allowing eligible collateral to be shared across multiple positions. This can reduce the amount of capital institutions must allocate separately to individual trades, although leverage and sudden price movements remain significant risks.

Michael Higgins, Ripple Prime's international chief executive, said institutional demand includes both directional trading and strategies designed to exploit differences between perpetual contract prices and underlying assets.

Perpetual swaps attract institutional capital

Open interest in perpetual contracts tied to real-world assets has grown from negligible levels to approximately $9 billion across several major venues over the past year.

The expansion has attracted hedge funds and market makers seeking additional liquidity and trading opportunities. Some institutions combine perpetual swaps with positions in underlying assets to capture pricing differences, while others use the contracts to express market views outside regular trading hours.

Hyperliquid's growing popularity has also demonstrated demand for trading infrastructure that operates continuously. Ripple Prime's approach brings access to that market through an institutional brokerage relationship rather than requiring clients to interact directly with decentralized venues.

Institutional adoption brings new competitive pressures

Ripple's expansion reflects a broader shift in cryptocurrency businesses toward services traditionally provided by investment banks and prime brokers.

The opportunity extends beyond trading commissions. Financing, collateral management, access to liquidity, and counterparty arrangements are becoming increasingly important as institutional investors explore tokenized assets.

Higgins expects traditional hedge funds to move closer to direct participation in tokenized real-world markets. However, wider adoption will depend on infrastructure that meets institutional requirements for counterparty oversight and anti-money-laundering controls.

The $9 billion figure measures outstanding positions in the broader real-world-asset perpetual swaps market, not the value of trades handled by Ripple Prime.For Ripple, the launch offers another route into institutional finance beyond its association with XRP. Its commercial significance will depend on whether professional investors adopt perpetual contracts as a lasting complement to established derivatives markets.

We also reported Ripple and Privy expand XRPL wallet support for app developers.

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