Ripple has expanded its prime brokerage arrangement with Brevan Howard, deepening a relationship that traces back to the digital asset firm's $500 million strategic funding round in 2025.

Under the agreement, Ripple Prime will deliver multi-asset prime brokerage, clearing and financing services to funds managed by the global investment manager. The deal gives Brevan Howard access to Ripple Prime's cross-asset platform, which consolidates traditional and digital market services within a single institutional infrastructure.

What does the agreement cover?

Ripple Prime's mandate spans three core institutional functions:

• Multi-asset prime brokerage
• Clearing across asset classes
• Financing for fund clients

The arrangement extends an existing commercial relationship. Brevan Howard affiliates had previously participated as investors in Ripple's $500 million strategic round, a capital event that positioned the company to scale its institutional services business. The expanded mandate marks an evolution from capital partner to operational client.

What are the executives saying?

Brevan Howard Group COO Alan McGroarty framed the expansion in terms of market structure convergence.

"As digital and traditional markets become more interconnected, the need for institutional-quality digital asset infrastructure that enables a seamless experience for investors is only growing," McGroarty said.

Ripple Prime President Noel Kimmel pointed to demand signals. The deal, he said, underscores appetite for cross-asset prime services and the company's broader push to serve institutional investors operating across both markets.

Where does this fit within Ripple's institutional strategy?

Ripple Prime operates as one component of a wider institutional offering that also includes:

• Payments infrastructure
• Custody services
• Treasury management

The unit's positioning targets the operational layer of cross-asset trading. By packaging custody, clearing and financing alongside its payments stack, Ripple is going after workflows of professional investors who treat digital assets as one component of a multi-asset mandate. The service line is built to handle exposure across both traditional and digital markets.

What does this signal about institutional market structure?

The agreement tracks a wider pattern: established alternative asset managers are formalizing operational relationships with digital asset-native prime brokers rather than stitching together fragmented counterparties. The operational logic is straightforward. Cross-asset clearing, unified margin treatment and consolidated reporting reduce the cost and complexity of running digital exposure inside a traditional fund vehicle.

For Brevan Howard, the arrangement consolidates execution and financing workflows under a single provider. For Ripple, the counterparty serves as a reference client for prime brokerage infrastructure aimed at sophisticated allocators.

Ripple has not disclosed deal economics, fee structure or the scale of fund assets expected to flow through the new arrangement. Operational data from the expanded mandate is likely to surface in subsequent quarterly disclosures or partner commentary as the cross-asset service line enters its first full year.