TLDR
Marc Asch plans to leave Ripple Prime at the end of 2026.
Noel Kimmel will succeed Asch as leader of Ripple’s institutional prime brokerage.
Ripple identified Kimmel as Ripple Prime president months before the succession announcement.
Ripple Prime secured a $200 million debt facility in May 2026.
The brokerage completed a $275 million senior unsecured notes offering in August 2026.
Marc Asch will leave Ripple Prime at year-end, handing leadership to Noel Kimmel. The handover follows an expansion of the brokerage’s lending, derivatives, and institutional partnerships.
Ripple confirmed the succession in comments reported by CoinDesk on November 10. A company spokesperson said Asch would pursue other opportunities after leaving. Ripple identified Kimmel as senior vice president and incoming leader of the business.
However, Ripple’s official releases already described Kimmel as Ripple Prime president earlier in 2026. The announcement therefore concerns overall leadership succession, not his first senior appointment at the brokerage.
Kimmel Already Represented Ripple Prime During Financing Expansion
Ripple acquired Hidden Road for $1.25 billion in 2025, completing the transaction that October. The acquisition brought institutional brokerage, clearing, and financing services into Ripple’s business.
In May, Ripple announced a $200 million debt facility from funds managed by Neuberger Specialty Finance. The facility allows borrowing to finance institutional clients, rather than representing fully drawn debt. Ripple also reported that Prime’s revenue had tripled year over year since the acquisition.
In August, Ripple Prime completed a $275 million private placement of senior unsecured notes. Ripple said KBRA assigned the offering an investment-grade BBB rating. Kimmel commented publicly on both financing arrangements as president, before November’s succession announcement.
Derivatives and Institutional Relationships Add Responsibility
Ripple launched Delta One in August, offering swaps across equities, indexes, and digital assets. Related Blockonomi coverage documented Ripple Prime’s move into leveraged ETF swap financing.
In October, Ripple expanded Prime’s agreement with Brevan Howard to cover multi-asset brokerage, clearing, and financing. The same month, Ripple announced support for perpetual swaps tied to real-world assets.
The service covers more than 100 reference markets, including equities, metals, energy, and foreign exchange. Ripple said institutions could use its RLUSD stablecoin as collateral for these swaps.
An October partnership with Robinhood also included margin financing through Ripple Prime for Bitstamp. Ripple said Prime provided Bitstamp with lending across roughly 20 digital assets.
Unresolved Questions After the Founder’s Departure
Asch founded Hidden Road in 2018 and remained involved following Ripple’s acquisition. His departure marks another transition for the business under its new ownership.
Ripple has not announced changes to Prime’s operating model following Asch’s planned exit. Its original acquisition announcement outlined plans to migrate post-trade activity onto XRP Ledger. The reviewed releases do not establish that this migration has finished. The handover also comes without newly disclosed targets for institutional lending or RLUSD collateral usage.
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