Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse (브래드 갈링하우스) has outlined why the company has spent about $3 billion on mergers and acquisitions since 2023. He said Ripple has pursued an aggressive acquisition strategy to build a bridge connecting the existing financial system and decentralised finance (DeFi).

The Crypto Basic, a blockchain outlet, reported on Feb. 23 that Ripple has completed six acquisitions since 2023. Disclosed deal value totals about $2.7 billion, and estimates exceed $4 billion when undisclosed deals and strategic partnerships are included. After buying crypto custody firm Metaco for $250 million in May 2023, Ripple acquired regulated trust company Standard Custody in June 2024.

Large deals followed in 2025. Ripple acquired prime brokerage firm Hidden Road for $1.25 billion in April and bought stablecoin payment platform Rail for $200 million four months later. It then acquired treasury management solutions firm GTreasury for $1 billion in October and added wallet technology firm Palisade in November.

In a recent interview with Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo, Garlinghouse said, "Ripple's goal is to connect traditional finance and the crypto industry." He added that the acquisitions were strategic moves to integrate financial infrastructure, not simply expansion.

He pointed to the GTreasury acquisition as an example of synergy. GTreasury processed about $13 trillion in payments last year but did not handle any transactions using cryptocurrencies or stablecoins. "Even though it has thousands of corporate clients, crypto-based payments were not happening," Garlinghouse said. "Now corporate treasury teams and CEOs are looking to adopt new technologies." Ripple aims to build new payment infrastructure by applying its blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions to existing treasury management systems.

Ripple's current cryptocurrency product lineup and GTreasury's existing services do not overlap directly. Garlinghouse said Ripple will integrate the two areas to introduce crypto-based solutions in earnest to the corporate treasury market.

Ripple plans to slow the pace of acquisitions for the time being. Asked whether Ripple is planning additional deals to expand its scale, Garlinghouse said that after wrapping up two large acquisitions last year, the company will focus on integration work rather than additional transactions in the first half of this year. He said recently acquired companies are delivering results that exceed expectations.

Ripple is expected to accelerate its push to become a comprehensive financial platform linking traditional finance and DeFi, based on a business portfolio spanning custody, prime brokerage, treasury management and stablecoin payments.