Ripple Prime has launched a delta one business, expanding its prime-brokerage offering into stock trading for institutional clients.

The new unit enables investors to execute total return swaps on US-listed equities, indexes and digital assets, Ripple Prime President Noel Kimmel said. The offering targets hedge funds, market makers and exchange-traded fund issuers.

Delta one products give traders exposure to stocks or equity indexes with returns that generally move one-for-one with the underlying asset — the name derives from "delta," the measure of how closely an instrument's price tracks its underlying. Such products are commonly offered through futures, forwards, swaps and equity baskets. Total return swaps, the instrument at the core of the new desk, allow an investor to receive the return of an underlying asset from a counterparty without holding the asset directly, a structure widely used by institutional desks to gain exposure while keeping balance-sheet flexibility. At large investment banks, delta one desks have long been an established business line, generating revenue from financing, collateral management and hedging tied to client flows rather than from directional trading.

Ripple, the company behind the payments network associated with the XRP token, already provides prime-brokerage and clearing services in foreign exchange, fixed income and digital assets. Prime brokerage refers to the bundle of execution, clearing, financing and margining services that firms supply to large institutional investors. The new business allows clients to hold cross-margin exposures across those asset classes through a single counterparty. Ripple Prime was formed from Hidden Road, a prime brokerage network Ripple acquired in a deal announced in April 2025 at roughly $1.25 billion, and the move into equities is part of a broader push by crypto-native financial firms into business lines long dominated by large banks.

Kimmel said the business can support clients trading equities against perpetual contracts — derivatives with no expiry date — which have attracted more activity on offshore and decentralized exchanges. Crypto perpetual futures are not currently offered on US-regulated exchanges, which has kept much of that trading on offshore platforms.

Ripple received regulatory approval earlier this year, and the offering officially went live last month. Ripple Prime also secured $200 million in financing from Neuberger Berman, the US investment manager, and closed a $275 million private placement of senior unsecured notes this month.

Source: CryptoBriefing