Ripple Prime launches Delta One and enters stock trading
The live Delta One desk offers institutions total return swaps on U.S. equities, indexes and digital assets through one counterparty, expanding Ripple Prime after Hidden Road and NSCC access.
Ripple Prime has opened a live Delta One trading desk so hedge funds, asset managers and other institutions can take total-return exposure to U.S.-listed stocks, major indexes and crypto via swaps without owning the underlyings, entering a market long led by banks such as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. The product sits on Ripple Prime’s multi-asset balance sheet, does not require XRP, and does not settle on the XRP Ledger; XRP may appear only as one referenced asset among others, while swap fees accrue to the company rather than token holders. Built on the $1.25 billion Hidden Road acquisition completed in 2025 and later rebranded Ripple Prime, the franchise holds more than $1 billion in regulatory net capital, joined the NSCC earlier this year, raised about $475 million in debt in 2025–2026, and benefits from a late-2025 $500 million investment led by Fortress and Citadel Securities that valued Ripple at $40 billion. Formally launched around August 27, 2026, the desk offers single-counterparty clearing and financing with cross-margining across equities, FX, bonds, derivatives and digital assets on a 24/7 basis, positioning itself as structurally aligned with clients rather than trading alongside them. Ripple named no launch customers or bank-comparable pricing; XRP traded near $1.46, up more than 5% on the day amid a broader market rally rather than the announcement itself.
- Delta One: An institutional desk that sells products designed to move one-for-one with referenced assets, typically via total return swaps rather than direct ownership.
- Total return swap: A derivative in which a client receives an asset’s full economic return without owning it, in exchange for agreed financing payments to the counterparty.
- NSCC: The National Securities Clearing Corporation, the U.S. clearinghouse that stands behind clearance and settlement of U.S. stock trades.