Ripple has expanded its institutional trading services to allow clients to trade derivatives linked to stocks, commodities, and currencies 24 hours a day, seven days a week. However, HSBC has warned that limited market liquidity could make it difficult for large investors to use the service for major trades.
On October 15, Ripple announced that Ripple Prime now supports perpetual swaps linked to more than 100 markets, including stocks, stock indexes, exchange-traded funds, metals, energy products, and foreign currencies.
In a research note published on October 20, HSBC digital assets research head Daragh Maher described the move as an improvement rather than a major breakthrough. He said the market needs more liquidity before large institutions can confidently trade significant positions outside normal market hours.
Trading firm Virtu is already using the service, according to Ripple. The company sees the expansion as another step toward connecting traditional financial markets with digital trading infrastructure.
Through the service, institutional investors can trade contracts linked to assets such as stocks, gold, and oil, even when traditional markets are closed. The contracts are based on perpetual futures listed by Trade.xyz on Hyperliquid.
Unlike traditional futures, perpetual futures have no fixed expiration date. Their prices can continue changing during weekends and holidays, allowing traders to react to news and market developments outside regular trading hours.
Ripple Prime acts as the counterparty for its clients and manages collateral, financing, and risk across supported positions. Institutions can also use Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin as collateral and manage margin requirements across different asset classes.
Ripple Prime has been expanding its derivatives business throughout 2026. It integrated Hyperliquid trading in February and introduced its Delta One business in August, offering total return swaps linked to US stocks, indexes, and digital assets. The latest launch adds round-the-clock trading for traditional asset markets.
The new swaps are currently offered through Ripple Prime’s licensed operation in the British Virgin Islands. Ripple plans to expand the service to other jurisdictions, but it has not disclosed trading volumes for the new product.
HSBC, however, believes limited liquidity remains a major challenge. Although trading in perpetual contracts linked to traditional assets is growing, the market is still small compared with conventional stock and commodity markets.
For large investors, having access to trading around the clock is not enough. They also need enough buyers and sellers to enter or exit large positions without causing sharp price movements.
A recent weekend trading episode highlighted these risks, when nearly $52 million in leveraged positions linked to chip stocks were reportedly liquidated within 10 minutes as selling pressure spread from Binance to Hyperliquid. Because traditional stock markets were closed, the perpetual contracts continued trading without fresh prices from the underlying shares.
HSBC expects market makers, proprietary trading firms, and hedge funds to be among the early users of these products. Some may look to profit from price differences between related markets. Larger institutions seeking to hedge long-term investments may wait until liquidity improves.
The bank also identified trading costs, operational simplicity, and efficient collateral management as important factors that will determine whether Ripple Prime can compete with established brokerage firms.
Ripple’s expansion could eventually create new opportunities for XRP, but the latest launch does not directly require the cryptocurrency. According to the announcement, institutions can use RLUSD as collateral, while the derivatives trade through Hyperliquid. Ripple has not said that XRP is required for settlement or collateral in these contracts.
Even though Ripple Prime handles substantial institutional trading and clearing activity, that does not automatically translate into more transactions on the XRP Ledger or greater demand for XRP.
Demand for XRP could benefit in the future if Ripple integrates the token into institutional collateral transfers or settlement services connected to its brokerage. However, no such integration has been announced for these particular derivatives.
At the time of writing, XRP’s price outlook remained bearish, according to the forecast cited in the original report.