Ripple extends institutional DeFi access via Hyperliquid

Ripple Prime–Hyperliquid integration lets institutions trade on‑chain derivatives

Ripple Prime has enabled support for Hyperliquid, bringing institutional access to a decentralized derivatives venue within a prime‑brokerage workflow, as reported by FinanceFeeds (https://financefeeds.com/ripple-prime-adds-hyperliquid-support-to-expand-institutional-access-to-defi-derivatives/). The move places on‑chain derivatives alongside established workflows for onboarding, credit, settlement, and reporting used by large trading firms.

For institutions, the appeal is operational familiarity: on‑chain liquidity can be accessed through a single prime‑broker interface rather than bespoke DeFi tooling. That structure can reduce fragmentation in execution, risk oversight, and post‑trade processes across centralized and decentralized venues.

Why it matters: cross‑margining and capital‑efficient DeFi access

According to The Block, the integration enables institutions to tap on‑chain derivatives liquidity and cross‑margin DeFi exposures alongside other asset classes supported by Ripple Prime, such as digital assets, FX, fixed income, OTC swaps, and cleared derivatives, while maintaining consolidated risk under a centralized prime‑broker counterparty (https://www.theblock.co/post/388454/ripple-prime-hyperliquid-defi). In practice, this approach can improve capital efficiency by netting positions across venues and products within a unified margin framework.

Ripple Prime’s leadership has framed the strategy as bridging DeFi access with institutional capital efficiency. “This strategic extension of our prime brokerage platform into DeFi will enhance our clients’ access to liquidity, providing the greater efficiency and innovation that our institutional clients demand,” said Michael Higgins, International CEO of Ripple Prime.

Immediate impact: workflow simplification, limited XRP reaction, HYPE interest

Near term, market reaction to the announcement appeared muted for XRP. As reported by AMBCrypto, XRP showed minimal upside response even as the integration broadened institutional access to on‑chain derivatives (https://ambcrypto.com/xrp-barely-reacts-as-ripple-prime-integrates-hyperliquid-why/).

Interest around Hyperliquid’s ecosystem nonetheless ticked up. Analytics Insight noted that the HYPE token posted modest gains following the news despite a weak broader crypto backdrop (https://www.analyticsinsight.net/news/crypto-market-update-hyperliquid-hype-defends-support-level-as-ripple-prime-expands-institutional-access).

For market context, and separate from the integration specifics, four days ago XRP traded near $1.44, down more than 9% over 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap (https://coinmarketcap.com/). Short‑term price moves remain sensitive to broader liquidity and risk conditions, so any structural impact from workflow changes may take time to register.

How trading on Hyperliquid works through Ripple Prime

According to Crypto.News, this marks Ripple Prime’s first direct entry point to an on‑chain trading venue and removes operational friction for institutions, no separate wallet management or smart‑contract interactions are required on the client side (https://crypto.news/ripple-prime-hyperliquid-institutional-defi-2026). Orders can be routed to the decentralized venue while clients maintain a single interface for credit, custody, reconciliation, and reporting through the prime broker.

From a risk and compliance perspective, institutions can retain centralized KYC/AML onboarding and consolidated risk oversight within the prime‑broker framework. At the same time, venue‑level considerations, such as smart‑contract risk, liquidity depth, and jurisdictional constraints, still apply, and adoption will likely depend on internal risk policies as well as regulatory permissions.