XRP moves beyond a ‘payments asset’… Ripple Prime: “Used as collateral in institutional trading”

Ripple Prime, an institutional-services affiliate of Ripple, is using XRP as collateral for institutional trades, according to reports.

According to The Crypto Basic on the 18th (local time), Mike Higgins, CEO of Ripple Prime, said in a recent interview that “we use XRP not merely as a means of payment, but as collateral.” He explained that the firm has built a business model that supports institutional trading by allowing XRP to be posted as collateral.

Higgins emphasized that “XRP plays a pivotal role.” He said that “when institutions post the XRP they hold as collateral, we support them in borrowing funds against it to execute trades.” The Crypto Basic described the remarks as “pushing back against market speculation that Ripple would use RLUSD as the primary collateral asset as it rolls out the Ripple Prime business,” adding that “institutional investors can secure liquidity without selling XRP, expanding the ways the asset can be utilized.” RLUSD is Ripple’s U.S. dollar stablecoin.

Meanwhile, Ripple Prime is a rebranded entity following Ripple’s acquisition of global prime broker Hidden Road in the second half of last year. The Crypto Basic said that “(Ripple Prime) is expanding its service scope to traditional assets such as FX and bonds, based on infrastructure that processes more than $3 trillion in annual trading volume.”