Ripple Aims To Be Amazon Of Finance With SBI Support And Acquisitions

TLDR

• Ripple has spent $2.45B acquiring four financial firms for its new platform.
• SBI Group runs XRP validators and supports Ripple through SBI Remit and MoneyTap.
• RLUSD is now used as collateral in Ripple’s prime brokerage operations.
• Ripple is not changing XRPL despite internal use of Amazon’s Bedrock AI.

Ripple’s vision of becoming the “Amazon of Finance” is gaining traction. Backed by SBI Group President Yoshitaka Kitao, Ripple’s $2.45 billion acquisition strategy is being positioned as a major step toward building a full-scale financial ecosystem powered by XRP and RLUSD.

SBI President Confirms Support for Ripple’s Strategy

Yoshitaka Kitao, President of SBI Group, has reaffirmed his support for Ripple’s ongoing expansion in the financial technology space. As a long-time partner and former board member of Ripple, Kitao’s public endorsement aligns SBI Group closely with Ripple’s goal of building an end-to-end finance platform.

SBI Group has been involved with Ripple for years, operating validator nodes on the XRP Ledger and integrating XRP into services like SBI Remit and MoneyTap. The Group also manages several XRP-based financial products. Kitao’s latest statement ends speculation on SBI’s stance toward Ripple’s recent strategy shift.

Ripple Acquires Key Financial Firms in $2.45 Billion Move

Ripple has acquired four financial firms worth $2.45 billion to build what insiders are calling “Ripple 1.” The firms are prime brokerage firm Hidden Road, treasury software company GTreasury, stablecoin payment platform Rail, and wallet custody provider Palisade.

Each of these acquisitions serves a specific function in the planned ecosystem. Together, they create a foundation similar to Amazon’s platform model, but targeted at institutional finance. Ripple aims to offer everything from custody and payments to treasury management, within one ecosystem.

Kitao called this “a step beyond product building,” suggesting Ripple is working toward a comprehensive financial infrastructure. This setup places XRP and Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD at the core of the operations.

XRP and RLUSD Integrated Across Financial Services

Ripple’s native token XRP and the stablecoin RLUSD are deeply integrated into the platform. RLUSD is now being used as collateral in prime brokerage transactions, giving it an active role in Ripple’s trading services. Meanwhile, XRP supports payment processing, custody services, and treasury functions across the new ecosystem.

These integrations show Ripple’s plan to create a consistent and efficient financial platform. With assets like XRP and RLUSD used in multiple functions, Ripple is positioning itself as a multi-layered service provider rather than just a payments company.

AI Use Clarified as Bedrock Supports Internal Analytics Only

There has been speculation that Ripple is working closely with Amazon Web Services on protocol-level integrations. However, analysts and company sources confirmed that Ripple is only using Amazon’s Bedrock AI for internal log analysis and not for changes to the XRP Ledger.

This clarification has ended rumors that Ripple was planning major technical shifts in partnership with AWS. The focus remains on infrastructure building, not protocol changes.

Institutional Backing Strengthens Ripple’s Ecosystem Vision

With SBI Group not only supporting Ripple but actively participating in its validator and payments ecosystem, the company has secured a strong institutional partner. This relationship has extended beyond investment, giving Ripple additional credibility as it moves toward becoming a financial services platform provider.

Kitao’s confirmation signals that Ripple is not positioning itself as a standalone product vendor. Instead, it is working to build a full-stack financial operating system with enterprise-grade services powered by blockchain.

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