Mark Ash (마크 애시), who led Ripple's institutional brokerage business, will leave the company at the end of 2026. Noel Kimmel (노엘 키멜), a senior vice president at Ripple Prime, will take over.

A Ripple spokesperson said Ash will leave at year-end and Kimmel will lead Ripple Prime’s business and organisation, blockchain outlets U.Today and CoinDesk reported on Nov. 10. The company expressed gratitude for Ash’s contribution in laying the business foundations as the founder of Hidden Road.

Ash founded Hidden Road in 2018 after working at hedge fund SAC Capital and asset manager Point72. Hidden Road grew by providing brokerage services spanning digital assets and traditional financial markets to institutional investors.

Ripple announced in April last year that it would acquire Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. It completed the deal in October that year and changed the name to Ripple Prime. Ash stayed on after the acquisition to lead the business. Ripple said at the time that Ash would work with Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse (브래드 갈링하우스) and other executives to pursue integration of the two companies.

Ripple Prime runs a prime brokerage business providing institutional clients with execution, clearing and financing. It handles a range of asset classes including digital assets as well as foreign exchange, derivatives, swaps and bonds. It became a foundation for Ripple to expand from cross-border payments into institutional financial services.

After the acquisition, it also pursued links with Ripple’s digital asset infrastructure. Ripple said when the acquisition was completed in October last year that Ripple Prime’s business had tripled since the initial acquisition announcement. Kimmel will take over the organisation as the business expands following the acquisition.

The appointment marks a turning point as the Hidden Road founder steps aside and an internal executive takes over management. Ripple said Ash is leaving to seek new opportunities. It did not separately disclose specific next steps or the business strategy under the new leadership.