A $35 billion hedge fund is deepening its ties with Ripple, and this time it is about market plumbing, not tokens.

📌 The news

Per The Block, Brevan Howard will use Ripple Prime for multi-asset prime brokerage, clearing and financing across its funds, expanding an existing relationship. Its COO said the platform should bring more operational ease and capital efficiency. Cointelegraph also reported the expanded deal.

🔍 What Ripple Prime is

• It was formed after Ripple acquired the prime broker Hidden Road.

• It recently secured a $200 million debt facility from Neuberger Berman to grow margin lending.

• KBRA assigned it a BBB rating earlier this year, and it added Hyperliquid as its first direct DeFi venue.

📊 The numbers

• Brevan Howard manages about $35 billion and already had a relationship with Ripple before this expansion.

• Ripple raised $500 million in a strategic round last year, with Brevan Howard participating.

• $XRP trades near $1.47, down about 1.5% in 24 hours, per CoinGecko.

⚖️ Bull vs bear case

• Bull: a top macro fund running daily operations through Ripple's stack is strong validation for its institutional business.

• Bear: prime brokerage revenue goes to Ripple the company, and the deal does not automatically create demand for XRP itself.

👀 What to watch next

More fund clients signing on, how much margin lending grows on the back of the Neuberger Berman facility, and whether Ripple Prime routes more activity through the XRP Ledger, RLUSD or DeFi venues like Hyperliquid over time.

━━━━━━━━━━━━

💡 My take: Wall Street plumbing is slow to change, so a fund this size expanding with a crypto-native broker is notable. In my view, the link between Ripple's business growth and XRP's price is weaker than many holders assume.

💬 Do institutional deals like this change how you look at XRP?

#XRP #Ripple