The move is notable because it converts Brevan Howard from a capital partner into an operational client. Funds managed by Brevan Howard affiliates participated in Ripple’s $500 million strategic investment round in 2025, a raise that valued Ripple at $40 billion and was led by Fortress and Citadel Securities. Having an investor of that scale also become a prime brokerage customer strengthens the commercial validation of the Ripple Prime platform considerably.

Ripple Prime is positioned as a unified institutional platform spanning traditional and digital asset classes. According to the announcement, Brevan Howard will gain access to cross-asset prime services with the stated aim of improving capital efficiency and reducing operational complexity for its investment teams.

Noel Kimmel, president of Ripple Prime, framed the deal as evidence of competitive strength in a segment he described as underserved. “There are few firms equipped to provide the next generation of prime services that sophisticated investors expect, and Brevan Howard’s trust in Ripple Prime is recognition of our strong competitive position and cross-asset capabilities,” he said.

Alan McGroarty, group COO of Brevan Howard, pointed to the convergence of traditional and digital markets as the driver. He said Ripple had built a platform that should provide investment teams with improved operational ease and capital efficiency, without elaborating on specific workflows or asset classes to be covered.

Institutional prime brokerage for digital assets is a segment that has attracted significant investment since the 2022 and 2023 market dislocations weeded out under-capitalised providers. Several traditional prime brokers, including units of major US and European banks, have stepped up digital asset clearing capabilities, while crypto-native firms have sought to build out cross-asset infrastructure to compete on breadth.

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