Marc Asch, the leader of Ripple Prime, is preparing to depart roughly a year after the prime brokerage, previously known as Hidden Road, was purchased by the cryptocurrency enterprise renowned for its cross-border settlement solutions.
A representative for the firm stated in an email message, “We’re extremely grateful to Marc for everything he did as founder of Hidden Road, now Ripple Prime.”
The representative further noted, “As he moves on at the end of the year to pursue new opportunities, Noel Kimmel, SVP, Ripple Prime is stepping up to lead the business and team within Ripple.”
Headquartered in California, Ripple revealed its $1.25 billion purchase of Hidden Road in April 2025. CoinDesk initially broke the news that the prime broker was engaged in discussions for a buyout. The firm finalized the transaction and rebranded the operation as Ripple Prime that coming October.
Ripple Prime delivers prime brokerage, clearing, and financing services to institutional participants across both digital assets and conventional financial sectors, encompassing foreign exchange, derivatives, and fixed income.
The division broadens Ripple’s footprint within institutional trading while utilizing the enterprise’s native dollar stablecoin, RLUSD, as collateral for specific prime brokerage offerings, based on statements from Ripple.
Ripple, heavily tied to XRP, has diversified its operations into custody solutions, stablecoins, prime brokerage, and corporate treasury management.
In addition to Hidden Road, Ripple’s expansion strategy in 2025 featured a $1 billion purchase of treasury software company GTreasury along with a $200 million acquisition of stablecoin payments network Rail, which enhanced the suite of services provided to financial institutions, asset managers, and enterprise clients.
Hidden Road was established in 2018 by Asch, whose career history includes stints at Steve Cohen’s investment funds SAC Capital and Point72 Asset Management.
Originally published at https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/11/09/ripple-prime-head-marc-asch-to-step-down-noel-kimmel-named-successor.
