Key Takeaways
- Ripple Prime now supports perpetual swaps referencing more than 100 traditional financial markets.
- Virtu is among the institutional clients trading RWA swaps through Ripple Prime’s brokerage platform.
- Ripple allows eligible clients to use RLUSD as collateral and cross-margin positions across supported assets.
Ripple Opens 100+ Traditional Markets to 24/7 Crypto Trading
Ripple announced Thursday that its institutional brokerage division, Ripple Prime, has introduced support for real-world asset (RWA) perpetual swaps, with trading firm Virtu among its participating clients. The offering spans more than 100 reference markets, including equities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stock indices, precious metals, energy products, and foreign exchange.
While conventional stock and commodity exchanges operate within designated trading sessions, these derivatives offer continuous exposure, including on Saturdays and Sundays. The swaps reference perpetual futures contracts listed by Trade.xyz on the perps DEX Hyperliquid, a decentralized derivatives trading platform.
Ripple Prime acts as principal in the transactions, giving institutional clients access through its brokerage infrastructure rather than requiring them to trade directly on the underlying venue.
Cross-Margining and RLUSD Enter the Picture
The arrangement goes beyond simply extending trading hours. The announcement details that Ripple Prime allows institutions to cross-margin their RWA swap positions against other supported asset classes, potentially reducing the amount of collateral they must maintain across separate positions. Clients can also use RLUSD, Ripple’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, as collateral, subject to jurisdictional availability.
“RWA swaps are where traditional and digital markets meet,” said Michael Higgins, international CEO of Ripple Prime. Higgins further explained that institutions increasingly want exposure to conventional assets without being confined to the traditional financial industry’s operating schedule. Ripple Prime’s centralized risk management, consolidated margin arrangements, and single-counterparty structure aim to accommodate those demands.
For professional trading firms, the ability to adjust positions when conventional exchanges are closed could change how they respond to weekend geopolitical developments or sudden shifts in commodity markets.
Virtu Joins as Ripple Eyes Additional Markets
The American financial services and technology firm Virtu is already participating, providing an early institutional example of how the arrangement operates. “Virtu is ramping up across emerging liquidity pools, and Ripple Prime’s 24/7 cross-margining across asset classes helps us expand our presence more efficiently as markets move toward ’round-the-clock access,” said Scotte Moegling, Virtu’s head of business development for digital assets.
Ripple said trading volumes for perpetual futures tied to real-world assets have grown substantially this year, although its announcement supplied no specific figures. The service currently operates under Ripple Prime’s CIV BVI license, with plans to extend availability to additional jurisdictions.
Traditional exchanges can still close their doors on Friday afternoon. The derivatives referencing their markets, however, no longer have to follow them home.
