Hidden Highway, a digital asset and overseas trade prime brokerage agency not too long ago acquired by Ripple, has secured a broker-dealer license within the US, increasing its capabilities to serve institutional traders, the agency’s President, Noel Kimmel, advised Bloomberg Information.
The license allows Hidden Highway to supply prime brokerage, clearing, and financing providers throughout fixed-income property to a broader vary of consumers. Kimmel mentioned that the registration is a significant step towards the corporate’s aim of changing into a full-service, non-bank brokerage throughout asset lessons.
The approval extends Hidden Highway’s attain past digital property and overseas trade into conventional markets, together with mounted revenue, the place it not too long ago grew to become a Fastened Earnings Clearing Company (FICC) clearing member.
Hidden Highway’s profile rose sharply after the 2022 FTX collapse, as institutional demand for prime brokerage providers providing counterparty danger mitigation grew throughout the crypto sector.
The report famous that Hidden Highway’s broker-dealer standing allows it to supply fixed-income repurchase agreements, world funding providers, and clearing capabilities throughout new asset lessons later this yr.
The transfer helps Ripple’s broader goal of providing enterprise-grade monetary instruments, spanning cross-border funds and superior custody providers, to institutional shoppers at scale.
Ripple acquisition and institutional growth
Ripple introduced its $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Highway on April 8, describing it as the biggest deal in its historical past. The acquisition positioned Ripple as the primary crypto-native agency to personal and function a multi-asset prime brokerage platform with a longtime institutional community.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse known as the transaction a “once-in-a-lifetime alternative” to attach conventional monetary markets with blockchain-powered ecosystems.
Ripple mentioned that Hidden Highway’s infrastructure will speed up institutional adoption of blockchain-based monetary providers, broadening its service choices into commerce clearing, financing, custody, and danger administration.
Ripple plans to deploy its RLUSD stablecoin as collateral for cross-asset trades inside Hidden Highway’s brokerage providers as a part of the combination. Hidden Highway may even use the XRP Ledger to facilitate quicker commerce settlements, aiming to chop settlement occasions from hours to minutes and cut back operational prices.=
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