Ripple Prime CEO Confirms XRP Use as Collateral for Institutional Trades

Ripple Prime CEO Mike Higgins has revealed that the company is actively leveraging $XRP in innovative ways to finance institutional trades.

In an interview with Jake Claver of Digital Ascension Group, Higgins detailed an advanced liquidity model that directly integrates $XRP into institutional finance.

For context, Ripple Prime functions as a full-service prime brokerage, offering clearing, credit, and market access. The platform allows institutions to trade more efficiently without fully funding each position up front, thereby extending their balance sheets to clients. This gives clients greater flexibility to access capital across both traditional and digital markets.

Key Points

• Ripple Prime CEO Mike Higgins confirms that the firm is leveraging $XRP as collateral to finance institutional trades.
• This disclosure addresses earlier speculation that Ripple abandoned $XRP in favor of $RLUSD in the Ripple Prime deal.
• Ripple Prime is already scaling with Ripple’s infrastructure and supporting broader growth initiatives, including expansion in Brazil.
• The company operates as a full-service prime brokerage offering clearing, credit, and market access.

$XRP in Ripple Prime

Initially, after Ripple acquired Hidden Road, now rebranded as Ripple Prime, many speculated the deal favored $RLUSD over $XRP. The narrative strengthened when Ripple confirmed $RLUSD would be a primary collateral asset on the platform, while $XRP seemed limited to post-trade settlement and transaction fees on the XRPL.

Higgins has now clarified Ripple Prime’s broader strategy, showing that $XRP plays a more central role than previously thought.

How Ripple Prime Leverages $XRP

Moreover, Higgins highlighted a key innovation in Ripple Prime’s use of $XRP. Rather than treating it solely as a payment asset, the platform allows institutions to post $XRP as collateral and borrow against it to execute trades.

This model mirrors traditional finance practices when applied to a digital asset, effectively creating a hybrid system that combines crypto’s flexibility with established financial mechanics.

As traditional and digital markets continue to converge, this approach significantly improves capital efficiency. Institutions can retain exposure to $XRP while unlocking liquidity, thereby maximizing the utility of their holdings.

Ripple Prime Scales with Ripple Backing

According to Higgins, Ripple Prime is already scaling, supported by Ripple’s balance sheet and infrastructure. Moreover, he emphasized that its expansion into traditional finance positions it as a strong non-bank competitor to established prime brokerage firms.

From Ripple’s perspective, solutions like the prime brokerage platform signal a new phase in institutional finance. The platform gives institutions access to advanced services across digital assets, FX, and fixed income, while clearing over $3 trillion annually.

Meanwhile, Ripple confirmed that Ripple Prime is part of its broader expansion into Brazil, alongside Ripple Payments and Ripple Custody.