Ripple is positioning itself for a bigger role in traditional finance. In an interview at Swell 2025, the company described its roughly $4-billion acquisition spree as the foundation for moving institutional money on the XRP Ledger alongside existing banking workflows. The push comes after a new $500-million raise at a reported $40-billion valuation, a deal to acquire multi-asset prime broker Hidden Road for about $1.25 billion, and a Ripple USD (RLUSD) pilot with Mastercard, WebBank and Gemini aimed at settling card payments onchain.