Ripple Labs has expanded its institutional prime brokerage offering by adding support for the decentralized derivatives trading protocol Hyperliquid, giving clients direct access to onchain perpetual futures markets.
The company said Ripple Prime clients can now tap Hyperliquid’s liquidity while keeping margin, collateral, and risk controls inside Ripple Prime. Consequently, institutions can trade decentralized finance derivatives without managing wallets or fragmented margin systems themselves.
Ripple explained that the setup allows clients to cross-margin decentralized derivatives alongside positions held in other markets supported by the platform. Additionally, the approach aims to improve capital efficiency by consolidating exposure management in a single system.
Ripple Prime already supports traditional asset classes such as foreign exchange, fixed income, and over-the-counter swaps. Furthermore, the platform is designed to act as a central access point for institutions running multi-asset portfolios across both traditional and digital markets.
The Hyperliquid integration reflects growing interoperability between centralized institutional platforms and decentralized trading venues. Earlier this year, Flare, an interoperability-focused blockchain, launched the first XRP spot market on Hyperliquid through the FXRP listing. However, Ripple’s announcement centers on institutional derivatives access rather than retail spot trading.
Hyperliquid has rapidly emerged as the largest decentralized exchange for perpetual contracts. As of mid-January, the platform reported more than USD$5 billion in open interest and roughly USD$200 billion in monthly trading volume. Consequently, it has surpassed several established rivals in the decentralized derivatives space.
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Ripple has had an instrumental 2025
The exchange has also seen a rise in tokenized commodity activity, including silver futures contracts. Additionally, that growth has helped Hyperliquid’s HYPE token outperform during the current market downturn. Meanwhile, the platform has signaled interest in expanding into prediction markets.
Ripple launched its Prime platform in late 2025 following its USD$1.25 billion acquisition of prime brokerage firm Hidden Road. Subsequently, the company positioned Ripple Prime as an institutional gateway connecting traditional finance infrastructure with blockchain-based markets.
The Prime launch capped a pivotal year for Ripple. In 2025, the company finalized its long-running legal conflict with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The resolution ended years of uncertainty around XRP’s regulatory status in secondary market trading. Consequently, Ripple gained clearer footing to pursue U.S. institutional clients.
Additionally, Ripple raised significant new capital during the year, strengthening its balance sheet after the legal settlement. The funding supported acquisitions, product expansion, and deeper engagement with traditional financial institutions.
Ripple executives said the company spent 2025 shifting from legal defense toward execution and growth. Furthermore, the firm emphasized enterprise payments, tokenization, and institutional trading infrastructure as core priorities.
The Hyperliquid integration fits that strategy by extending Ripple Prime into decentralized derivatives markets. Conversely, Ripple avoids pushing institutions directly into self-custodied DeFi environments.
Instead, the company is betting that familiar risk controls and centralized access points will encourage broader institutional participation. Meanwhile, decentralized venues like Hyperliquid continue to mature in scale and liquidity.
The result is a hybrid model where traditional institutions can access onchain markets without abandoning existing operational frameworks.
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