Ripple, the blockchain company behind XRP (CRYPTO: XRP), is rapidly expanding its institutional footprint through a series of strategic acquisitions and new product offerings, signaling preparation for a potential XRP ETF launch.

What Happened: Ripple unveiled Ripple Prime, its new digital asset spot prime brokerage platform in the U.S., following the acquisition of multi-asset broker Hidden Road.

The platform enables U.S.-based institutions to execute OTC spot trades across major digital assets, including XRP and RLUSD, alongside access to forex, derivatives, swaps and fixed income products.

Ripple Prime also offers cross-margining capabilities, allowing clients to offset OTC spot exposure with holdings such as CME futures and options, effectively creating a unified institutional trading environment.

In a parallel move, Ripple acquired crypto wallet provider Palisade to bolster its custody and payments infrastructure.

Palisade's wallet-as-a-service technology will integrate into Ripple Custody, enabling secure management of stablecoins, tokenized assets, and multi-chain DeFi integrations for banks and corporates.

Also Read: Bitcoin Craters To $104,000 As Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin Plummet Another 5%

Why It Matters: These developments underscore Ripple's ambition to become a crypto-native financial infrastructure leader, following earlier acquisitions such as Metaco (2023), Hidden Road ($1.25 billion), Rail ($200 million), and GTreasury.

Ripple now holds over 75 global regulatory licenses and partners with institutions like BBVA, DBS, and Société Générale's crypto division.

Speculation is mounting around the imminent launch of an XRP ETF, with Canary Capital recently submitting an updated S-1 filing. Bitwise and Grayscale have also disclosed ETF fees of 0.34% and 0.35%, respectively.

ETF Store President Nate Geraci added that he expects spot XRP ETFs to launch within the next two weeks, possibly around Nov. 13.

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