Ripple Prime Launches 24/7 Stock Swaps Using RLUSD Collateral as HSBC Warns of Thin Weekend Liquidity

Ripple Prime has launched a service enabling institutional clients to trade swaps tied to more than 100 stock, commodity, and currency markets around the clock. Clients can use Ripple's dollar-pegged $RLUSD stablecoin as collateral to back positions tracking perpetual futures listed on Hyperliquid. The risks of 24/7 derivative trading surfaced when nearly $52M in leveraged chip-stock positions were forcibly closed in 10 minutes on a weekend while the underlying shares were not actively trading. HSBC head of digital assets research Daragh Maher characterized the launch as "evolutionary, not revolutionary," noting that limited early liquidity will likely restrict activity to market makers, proprietary traders, and hedge funds pursuing basis trades. The new swaps are offered through Ripple Prime's British Virgin Islands license, with trading firm Virtu already confirmed as an active participant. “This is a rapidly growing market but not a very big one when compared to the Trad Fi markets they are tracking. The stronger case for the product comes once there is sufficient depth for investors to express views and adjust risk when conventional markets are closed.” — Daragh Maher