Crypto Biz: Ripple’s Defining Moment, Binance’s Token Purge, and Why the Bull Market Might Not Have Even Started

Ripple’s Defining Moment with $1.25B Hidden Road Acquisition

Ripple made waves in the crypto world this week by becoming the first crypto-native company to acquire a multi-asset prime brokerage. The company shelled out a whopping $1.25 billion to acquire Hidden Road, a move that Ripple CFO David Schwartz called the firm’s "defining moment."

Hidden Road boasts over 300 institutional clients and processes more than 50 million transactions daily. Ripple aims to leverage this infrastructure to expand adoption of its XRP Ledger (XRPL), a decentralized platform already being positioned to support tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).

“Now, imagine even a portion of that activity on the XRP Ledger — and that’s exactly what Hidden Road plans on doing,” Schwartz posted on social media. Ripple has previously launched a tokenized money market fund in partnership with Archax, hinting that their ambitions in the RWA space are only just beginning.

Source: David Schwartz

CEO Brad Garlinghouse emphasized that the acquisition aligns with Ripple’s global expansion strategy, calling it a bold bet on the future of institutional crypto adoption.

Binance’s Community-Led Token Purge Continues

Binance is continuing its campaign to clean house. In its latest move, the world’s largest crypto exchange is set to delist 14 tokens on April 16 following the platform’s first-ever “vote to delist” initiative. The affected tokens include Badger (BADGER), Balancer (BAL), Beta Finance, Status (SNT), Cream Finance (CREAM), and Nuls (NULS), among others.

The decision followed a comprehensive evaluation of each project’s development activity, trading volume, and responsiveness to due diligence requests. Binance said the purge is in line with maintaining quality standards and responding to community feedback.

This marks a shift toward a more transparent, community-driven approach to listings, with the exchange actively encouraging users to weigh in on which tokens should remain.

Pakistan Appoints CZ to Accelerate Crypto Adoption

In a surprising but strategic move, Pakistan has appointed former Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao as an advisor to its newly formed Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC). The decision is part of the country’s push to position itself as a global crypto hub.

Zhao will provide guidance on regulatory frameworks, infrastructure development, and adoption strategies. Pakistan, once skeptical of crypto, now recognizes its transformative potential—especially in areas like remittances and digital finance.

“Pakistan is done sitting on the sidelines,” said Bilal bin Saqib, PCC’s CEO. “We want to attract international investment because Pakistan is a low-cost, high-growth market with a Web3-native workforce ready to build.”

CZ is appointed as an adviser by Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance. Source: Business Recorder

Experts Say the Crypto Bull Market Hasn't Even Started Yet

Despite market turbulence driven by macroeconomic factors—including a 104% U.S. tariff on Chinese imports—industry experts remain optimistic. At the LONGITUDE by Cointelegraph event in Paris, several analysts claimed the current cycle has yet to truly kick off.

MN Capital founder Michael van de Poppe compared the recent downturn to the COVID crash of March 2020, predicting that the U.S. Federal Reserve will eventually step in to stabilize the markets.

Messari CEO Eric Turner echoed the sentiment, asserting that what the market experienced so far wasn’t a true bull run, but rather two disjointed phases driven by Bitcoin ETFs and memecoin hype.

Their consensus? The real action is still ahead, and long-term investors should stay alert.

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Crypto Biz is your weekly snapshot of the biggest moves in crypto business, from institutional adoption to exchange updates and global regulatory developments. Delivered every Thursday, it keeps you plugged into the business side of blockchain.