Ripple has confirmed that Marc Asch, head of its institutional prime brokerage unit Ripple Prime, will step down at the end of 2026. Noel Kimmel, currently senior vice president at Ripple Prime, will assume leadership of the business and its team.

A company spokesperson stated the transition in an email, expressing appreciation for Asch’s contributions. “We’re extremely grateful to Marc for everything he did as founder of Hidden Road, now Ripple Prime,” the spokesperson said. “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.”

Background of the Acquisition and Rebranding

Asch founded Hidden Road in 2018 to offer prime brokerage services to institutional clients across digital assets and traditional markets. He previously worked at SAC Capital and Point72 Asset Management. Ripple announced its acquisition of Hidden Road for $1.25 billion in April 2025 and completed the transaction in October of that year, renaming the firm Ripple Prime.

The unit now delivers prime brokerage, clearing and financing services covering foreign exchange, derivatives, fixed income and digital assets. Some products incorporate Ripple’s dollar-backed stablecoin RLUSD as collateral.

Broader Expansion in Institutional Services

The leadership change occurs as Ripple continues integrating the prime brokerage into its wider institutional financial services platform. In 2025 the company also acquired treasury management software provider GTreasury for $1 billion and stablecoin payments platform Rail for $200 million. These moves expanded Ripple’s offerings beyond its traditional cross-border payments business into custody, stablecoins, prime brokerage and corporate treasury management.

Ripple Prime has focused on serving hedge funds, asset managers and trading firms with multi-asset access. The division recently received recognition as Prime Broker of the Year for EMEA at the 2026 Hedgeweek US Awards, which honor excellence in custody, trading infrastructure, blockchain technology, compliance and related areas.

Succession and Next Steps

Kimmel, an internal executive with prior experience at Cerberus and JPMorgan, will take responsibility for leading the institutional brokerage operation following Asch’s departure. The transition is presented as a planned handoff tied to the ongoing integration of the former Hidden Road business.

Ripple Prime continues to develop products that expand institutional use of RLUSD across multiple asset classes while building out clearing, financing and brokerage capabilities in both traditional and digital markets.