Ripple has secured a major stamp of approval from traditional Wall Street.
Ripple Prime, the company’s newly expanded prime brokerage arm, has received a "BBB" investment-grade issuer rating from global credit rating agency KBRA.
CEO Brad Garlinghouse has stated that the rating is "a clear validation" of Ripple's strength, reliability, and tech. "Momentum builds when markets recognize these things," he said.
Why is it significant?
In late 2025, Ripple acquired a prime brokerage firm called Hidden Road Partners and rebranded it under the "Ripple Prime" umbrella.
Currently, Ripple Prime makes its money by acting as a middleman for exchange-traded derivatives (ETDs) and fixed-income "repo" markets
A "BBB" rating means a company is officially "investment grade." This tells massive institutions, pension funds, and banks that the company is perfectly capable of meeting its financial commitments. The score has likely unlocked the door to a bigger pool of Wall Street clients.
Ripple Labs is sitting on a staggering $5.0 billion in cash and over 40 billion XRP tokens. Ripple Labs has the capital to bail out Ripple Prime.
To scale the business, Ripple injected roughly $500 million into the brokerage after the 2025 acquisition, and KBRA expects another $500 million injection in 2026.
There are also some factors that have prevented Ripple from obtaining a higher rating. Ripple Prime currently relies on a narrow set of services (spread-based financing). However, they are planning to expand into new areas like synthetic equity financing to diversify their income.
KBRA has noted that the parent company's revenues are still heavily tied to digital asset activity and XRP sales. It could possibly impact Ripple's overall financial flexibility.
Dan Burgin
U.Today Editorial Team
Vladislav Sopov
