Ripple is betting $4 billion, about 6 trillion won, and drawing up a broader plan for XRP.

On March 5, The Crypto Basic cited an analysis by crypto commentator Nick Shukri (닉 슈크리), saying Ripple is not looking to be satisfied with simply pushing XRP to between $1 and $20. It is expanding financial infrastructure toward much bigger long-term goals.

Shukri offered that interpretation based on four major acquisitions Ripple completed in 2025. The acquisitions span core financial infrastructure including liquidity, custody, treasury management and stablecoin payments. They are seen as part of a strategy to build an end-to-end global payments and liquidity network.

The most notable deal is the acquisition of Hidden Road. Ripple spent about $1.25 billion, about 1.84 trillion won, to acquire Hidden Road and later integrated it into Ripple Prime. Hidden Road is an institutional prime brokerage services provider that offers clearing, financing and trading infrastructure for digital asset over-the-counter trading, including XRP and Ripple's stablecoin RLUSD.

Another major acquisition is corporate treasury management platform GTreasury. Ripple acquired the company for about $1 billion, about 1.47 trillion won, then restructured it as Ripple Treasury. GTreasury has long experience in corporate treasury operations and processes payments worth trillions of dollars annually. Ripple plans to combine blockchain features with the system to add cryptocurrency and stablecoin functions to corporate treasury work.

Ripple also acquired stablecoin payments platform Rail in a deal worth $200 million, about 290 billion won. Rail provides virtual accounts and supports 24-hour stablecoin payments across various digital assets.

It also acquired wallet infrastructure provider Palisade. Palisade provides wallet-as-a-service technology for banks, fintech firms and cryptocurrency companies, and supports high-frequency trading, subscription payments and fast settlement.

Ripple's strategy focuses on connecting traditional finance and decentralised finance. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse (브래드 갈링하우스) said in a recent interview that its acquisitions are aimed at building infrastructure to integrate cryptocurrency into the existing financial system. He said corporate treasury officials and financial sector executives are actively seeking ways to modernise payments and settlement systems using blockchain technology.

Their strategy is to connect existing financial markets and on-chain infrastructure through a comprehensive set of services. The company expects the investments to contribute to expanding the ecosystem around XRP and the XRP Ledger.

Garlinghouse previously said the acquisitions align with a strategy to raise liquidity and usage across the network. An analysis says the introduction of RLUSD could further expand on-chain liquidity and help support demand from institutional investors.

Shukri said that given Ripple's aggressive scale of investment, the company is building financial infrastructure with a goal of expanding XRP adoption beyond current price levels. He also pointed to Ripple holding about 40 percent of the total XRP supply as a point drawing market attention.

The expansion is seen less as a move to lift XRP's price in the short term than as a long-term step to broaden XRP's role across global payments and liquidity infrastructure. The market is watching whether Ripple's acquisition strategy will lead to wider real-world use of XRP and institutional adoption.

#Ripple did not spend billions of dollars for a $1-$2-$3 or even a $20 #xrp! Understand? #few pic.twitter.com/vjnAsYbIuT