Key Takeaways
- • Ripple is offering swap financing for leveraged exchange-traded funds through its brokerage arm Ripple Prime, expanding into a fee-generating market long dominated by banks and securities firms, according to reporting from WSJ on October 8.
- • Ripple Prime is earning financing fees, including roughly an 8% annualized financing rate from the Tradr 2X Long SNDK Daily ETF.
- • The US leveraged ETF market comprises 593 funds holding more than $256 billion, including 426 funds tracking individual stocks, per Morningstar Direct data.
- • Tighter capital and risk requirements at banks have opened the space to nonbank firms including Ripple Prime, Jane Street and Clear Street.
- • XRP price showed little positive reaction to the news, trading near $1.39 to $1.40 and down roughly 1.5% to 5% in reported sessions.
Summary
Ripple is offering swap financing for leveraged exchange-traded funds, extending its push further into Wall Street. According to reporting by the Wall Street Journal on October 8, the company is targeting the leveraged ETF financing market through Ripple Prime, its prime-brokerage unit. Swap financing receives less public attention than large deals or IPOs, but it remains one of the more lucrative businesses in securities finance.
Ripple Prime is supplying financing for leveraged stock ETFs and earning a financing fee, including roughly an 8% annualized financing rate from the Tradr 2X Long SNDK Daily ETF. Leveraged ETFs deliver a multiple of the daily return of a stock or index, often two or three times, and managers typically obtain that exposure through total-return swaps and similar derivatives. Morningstar Direct data show the US market holds 593 leveraged ETFs with more than $256 billion in assets, including 426 funds tracking individual stocks.
Ripple acquired Hidden Road for $1.25 billion in 2025 and built Ripple Prime from that business. The unit works with several ETF providers and has said it intends to extend similar services to other investment managers, including hedge funds. Ripple Prime recently launched a delta-one business for institutions, enabling total-return swaps on US stocks, indexes and crypto assets, according to CoinGape.
Banks provided much of this financing previously, but tighter capital and risk requirements have created openings for nonbank firms, including Ripple Prime, Jane Street and Clear Street. The move represents a further step in Ripple's expansion beyond cross-border payments, stablecoins and custody into institutional market infrastructure.
Market reaction in XRP was muted. Coverage indicated XRP traded near $1.39 to $1.40, testing the $1.38 to $1.40 cluster of 50- and 200-day EMAs, and showed little positive response to the expansion.
Ripple Prime is supplying financing for leveraged stock ETFs and earning a financing fee, including roughly an 8% annualized financing rate from the Tradr 2X Long SNDK Daily ETF. Leveraged ETFs deliver a multiple of the daily return of a stock or index, often two or three times, and managers typically obtain that exposure through total-return swaps and similar derivatives. Morningstar Direct data show the US market holds 593 leveraged ETFs with more than $256 billion in assets, including 426 funds tracking individual stocks.
Ripple acquired Hidden Road for $1.25 billion in 2025 and built Ripple Prime from that business. The unit works with several ETF providers and has said it intends to extend similar services to other investment managers, including hedge funds. Ripple Prime recently launched a delta-one business for institutions, enabling total-return swaps on US stocks, indexes and crypto assets, according to CoinGape.
Banks provided much of this financing previously, but tighter capital and risk requirements have created openings for nonbank firms, including Ripple Prime, Jane Street and Clear Street. The move represents a further step in Ripple's expansion beyond cross-border payments, stablecoins and custody into institutional market infrastructure.
Market reaction in XRP was muted. Coverage indicated XRP traded near $1.39 to $1.40, testing the $1.38 to $1.40 cluster of 50- and 200-day EMAs, and showed little positive response to the expansion.
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