Crypto-related acquisitions and public listings in the U.S. have already hit $8.2 billion across 88 deals in the first four months of 2025 — triple the total from all of 2024. The sharp increase shows a new phase of integration between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi).
These deals fall into five main trends: companies buying Bitcoin for their treasuries (like Twenty One Capital), traditional firms merging with crypto infrastructure providers, acquisitions focused on institutional services (like Ripple buying Metaco), consolidation between crypto and traditional trading platforms, and mergers between token-based projects.
But one deal in particular is drawing high praise — especially from pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton.
Deaton recently pointed to Ripple’s $1.25 billion acquisition of prime brokerage firm Hidden Road as “possibly the best example” of the TradFi-DeFi convergence happening in crypto. Hidden Road processes over $3 trillion a year for more than 300 institutional clients. By integrating with Ripple’s XRP Ledger (XRPL), settlement times have dropped from 24 hours to just 3–5 seconds.
Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin now acts as collateral for trades, connecting blockchain infrastructure directly to institutional trading workflows. Deaton explained how this move positions Ripple at the forefront of institutional DeFi by combining DeFi’s speed with TradFi’s reach.
He also opened up about the importance of Ripple’s rapid expansion into crypto custody. In addition to acquiring Metaco, Ripple has bought Standard Custody and launched “Ripple Custody” to offer institutions a full suite of services — from payments and stablecoins to asset storage.
Why the big push into custody?
Deaton believes Ripple is preparing for the tokenization boom. With the custody market expected to grow beyond $16 trillion by 2030, Ripple is building the tools banks will need to tokenize stocks, bonds, or even real estate using the XRPL — with RLUSD powering these transactions.
“It looks like [CEO] Brad Garlinghouse is making up for lost time,” Deaton said, referring to Ripple’s progress after its long legal battle with the SEC.
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