Digital Ascension Group CEO Jake Claver said Ripple spent approximately $2.45 billion on acquisitions over the past seven months to assemble what he described as the "Amazon of financial infrastructure," a vertically integrated system with XRP and the company's RLUSD stablecoin serving as the settlement layer.
What Happened: Acquisition Strategy Detailed
Claver outlined the spending in a recent video, arguing the purchases form "pillars for a master plan" that mirrors how Amazon built dominance by owning infrastructure rather than selling products.
The most prominent deal was the $1.25 billion purchase of Hidden Road in April, now rebranded as "Ripple Prime."
He said Hidden Road served more than 300 institutional clients and cleared over $3 trillion in 2024.
The business has grown threefold since the acquisition announcement, he claimed.
Claver pointed to three additional acquisitions: Rail for about $200 million in August 2025, described as a stablecoin payments platform forecast to process over 10% of a $36 billion global B2B stablecoin payments market; GTreasury for $1 billion, announced in October and closed in December, which processes $12.5 trillion in annual payment volume; and Palisade, announced in November with undisclosed terms, framed as operational wallet-as-a-service infrastructure.
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Why It Matters: Institutional Infrastructure Play
Claver argued that infrastructure ownership creates structural advantages through lower marginal costs, faster iteration and higher switching costs once institutions integrate.
"This vertical integration is rare in financial services," he said, noting that most firms "specialize in one layer or partner for the rest."
Hidden Road will use RLUSD as collateral across prime brokerage products, which Claver said creates organic demand for the stablecoin through institutional adoption.
He described the endgame as "winner take all dynamics" where network effects make large networks exponentially more valuable than smaller ones.
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