One founder says Ripple is pursuing a SoftBank-style acquisition strategy using XRP, but others question whether the comparison fits.
Ripple has made a slew of acquisitions to control key transaction rails and route them through XRP and its stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), drawing comparisons to Japanese investment firm SoftBank.
The $1.25-billion acquisition of Hidden Road on April 8 allows Ripple to use RLUSD as collateral in the firm’s prime brokerage products. Hidden Road will also migrate its post-trade operations to the XRP Ledger, the blockchain that underpins cryptocurrency XRP (XRP) and several of Ripple’s institutional services.
Omni Network co-founder Austin King knows Ripple’s strategy firsthand. He sold his startup, Strata Labs, to Ripple in 2019 and describes the approach as a “SoftBank-type” acquisition strategy.
