Ripple Prime has launched real-world asset perpetual swaps, giving institutions 24/7 exposure to over 100 markets, with Virtu among its clients.
Ripple Prime, the prime brokerage business of blockchain company Ripple, has introduced support for real-world asset (RWA) perpetual swaps. Institutional clients, including Virtu, are now trading RWA swaps across more than 100 reference markets spanning equities, equity indices, ETFs, metals, energy, and foreign exchange, all traded and settled 24/7. The offering is currently available through Ripple Prime’s licence in the British Virgin Islands, with plans to extend it to additional regions.
How the swaps are structured
Ripple Prime trades the RWA swaps as principal, and they reference perpetual futures contracts listed by Trade.xyz on Hyperliquid, a decentralised derivatives venue. Because the reference markets trade continuously, including at weekends, clients can manage exposure to traditional asset classes outside standard exchange hours. According to Ripple, onchain infrastructure is opening continuous access to markets that have historically been limited to fixed trading windows, allowing institutions to respond to market developments and deploy capital across both traditional and digital asset markets.
Clients can cross-margin RWA swap positions against the other asset classes Ripple Prime supports and use Ripple’s stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), as collateral. This gives them a single counterparty relationship, centralised risk management, and consolidated margin across their portfolios. Michael Higgins, International CEO of Ripple Prime, stated that RWA swaps bring together traditional and digital markets, as institutions want exposure to equities, commodities, and currencies with the round-the-clock access offered by digital infrastructure. According to Higgins, Ripple Prime’s experience in clearing trades and managing digital collateral and risk across venues allows clients to run more sophisticated trading strategies.
Institutional demand for continuous markets
Scotte Moegling, Head of Business Development for Digital Assets at Virtu, stated that the firm is expanding across emerging liquidity pools, and that Ripple Prime’s 24/7 cross-margining across asset classes helps it do so more efficiently as markets move towards round-the-clock access. Ripple notes that trading volumes in perpetual futures contracts linked to real-world assets have grown significantly since the start of the year.
Founded in 2012, Ripple holds more than 85 licences and offers payments, custody, prime brokerage, and treasury management services, supported by RLUSD and the digital asset XRP. Because Ripple Prime acts as principal, institutional clients gain exposure to markets listed on a decentralised venue while dealing with a single regulated counterparty, rather than accessing Hyperliquid directly.
