Ripple-Owned Hidden Road Secures U.S. Broker-Dealer License

Highlights:

• Hidden Road has received approval from FINRA to offer fixed income services.
• Ripple recently bought Hidden Road and plans to connect blockchain with traditional financial services.
• Hidden Road will use the XRP Ledger to settle trades faster and lower operational costs.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has issued a broker-dealer license to Hidden Road, a prime brokerage firm recently bought by Ripple. Hidden Road Partners CIV US LLC has been granted the license, allowing the firm to expand fixed income services for institutional clients. The approval allows the company to provide prime brokerage, clearing, and financing services on a broader range of asset classes.

🚨 JUST IN: RIPPLE-OWNED HIDDEN ROAD OBTAINS FINRA BROKER-DEALER LICENSE TO BOOSTING FIXED-INCOME OPERATIONS FOLLOWING ITS $1.25B ACQUISITION. pic.twitter.com/K4ym4h7wb4

— Coinwaft (@coinwaft) April 18, 2025

The company already has membership in the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation. The membership provides it with access to major services in the bond markets. Now, with the new license in place, Hidden Road can move further into fixed income operations. The firm has cleared more than $10 billion in daily transactions and serves over 300 institutional clients. It started operations in 2018 with a focus on foreign exchange. However, it has moved into digital assets and now traditional markets as well.

Hidden Road’s president, Noel Kimmel, said that the new license supports the company’s plan to become a full-service, non-bank brokerage across different markets. This shift has been in motion since the collapse of FTX. The collapse pushed many firms to seek safer counterparty arrangements.

Hidden Road has tried to meet the growing demand for prime brokerage services with strong risk controls. The entry of the company into fixed-income markets creates new services for the company. Such services include repurchase agreements, funding options, and clearing solutions for large-scale trades.

Acquisition Strengthens Ripple’s Institutional Market Entry

Ripple announced the acquisition of Hidden Road on April 8 in a deal valued at $1.25 billion, which makes it the largest in Ripple’s history. The acquisition allows Ripple to operate a multi-asset prime brokerage platform with an existing network of institutional clients. Ripple plans to integrate Hidden Road’s systems into its infrastructure and expand the firm’s service offerings to include new features such as custody and trade finance.

Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s chief executive officer, said the acquisition presents an opportunity to bridge traditional finance with blockchain-based services. The firm also confirmed that it will use RLUSD, Ripple’s own stablecoin, as collateral in Hidden Road’s prime brokerage operations. This will support more efficient trading across asset classes. Ripple’s chief technology officer, David Schwartz, described the deal as a key point for the XRP Ledger, which will now handle a larger share of institutional settlement tasks.

Today, @Ripple announced the acquisition of Hidden Road for $1.25B, one of the largest deals ever in the crypto space. But the price tag isn’t what’s most important – it’s that this deal marks a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for crypto to access the largest and most trusted…

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) April 8, 2025

In addition, Hidden Road will move some of its operations to the XRP ledger with the support of Ripple. Such a change would improve the company’s ability to settle the trades quickly and lower its costs as well. This transition would allow Ripple to cut settlement times to minutes instead of hours. The firm believes the transition will improve efficiency and give clients quicker access to cleared trades.

Hidden Road Sets Focus on Expansion

Hidden Road plans to build on its current momentum by growing its services across traditional markets. The company said it will continue to increase its capacity and reach more clients in the months ahead.

With backing from Ripple, Hidden Road aims to become one of the largest non-bank prime brokers globally. It expects to scale up its operations quickly and support new asset classes later this year as part of its growth strategy.