Ripple to acquire Rail for $200M to strengthen global stablecoin infrastructure

Key Takeaways

Ripple is acquiring Rail for $200M to strengthen its stablecoin payments platform.
The acquisition will enhance RLUSD’s utility and Ripple’s position in the stablecoin market.

Ripple, the established blockchain company behind the XRP Ledger (XRPL), is set to acquire stablecoin payments platform Rail in a deal valued at $200 million, the company said in a Thursday statement. The firm expects to complete the transaction in Q4 2025, pending regulatory approval.

The announcement comes just weeks after President Donald Trump signed federal stablecoin legislation, the GENIUS Act, into law. Legal clarity gives companies like Ripple the green light to expand.

The acquisition is largely seen as Ripple’s ongoing effort to deepen its footprint in the stablecoin sector. Ripple, which issues XRP and the USD-pegged stablecoin RLUSD, has been expanding its stablecoin infrastructure. In April, the company announced plans to acquire multi-asset prime broker Hidden Road for $1.3 billion to enhance RLUSD’s utility.

Last month, Ripple applied for a national banking license from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The license would enable the firm to have its stablecoin RLUSD regulated by the OCC and potentially offer additional crypto services. Ripple’s Standard Custody & Trust Company is also seeking a Fed Master account to directly hold RLUSD reserves.

Toronto-based Rail, backed by Galaxy Ventures and Accomplice, handles about 10% of global stablecoin payment activity. Its platform enables fast, low-cost cross-border transactions by converting fiat to stablecoins and back, all through a single API. Built for compliance and reliability, Rail supports business payments, payroll, and other global use cases without requiring wallets for the end users.

Buying Rail gives it an established infrastructure to grow RLUSD adoption in global payments, especially in business-to-business (B2B) use cases.

“Stablecoins are quickly becoming a cornerstone of modern finance, and with Rail, we are uniquely positioned to drive the next phase of innovation and adoption of stablecoins and blockchain in global payments. Ripple has one of the most widely used digital asset payment networks in the world, and this acquisition underscores our commitment to helping our global customer base to move money wherever and whenever they need,” said Monica Long, president of Ripple in a statement.