Ripple raises $275M for US prime brokerage expansion

Ripple's move matters less as a crypto story than as a boundary test: a firm best known for settlement infrastructure is funding a push into prime brokerage and clearing, the plumbing incumbents have long controlled. That puts it in direct competition with established intermediaries rather than adjacent to them, a different risk profile than its core business. The open question is whether institutional demand cited here reflects genuine appetite for a crypto-native prime broker or simply a willingness to trial one alongside existing providers.