Undisclosed Cryptocurrency Over-the-Counter Trading Platform Debuts for American Financial Institutions, Supported by Ripple Backing
Ripple, a digital asset infrastructure provider, is progressing towards its aim of becoming a major hub for institutional liquidity flows. The company's recently acquired prime brokerage platform, Hidden Road, has introduced a crypto over-the-counter (OTC) service for U.S. institutions enabling them to settle OTC swaps across leading cryptocurrencies with cash.
According to an official release from Hidden Road, this brokerage will permit American institutional clients to exchange OTC swaps in various cryptocurrencies confidentially. The FCA-regulated United Kingdom arm of Hidden Road, Hidden Road Partners CIV UK Ltd., will manage the operations of the new OTC Swaps product alongside several crypto cross-margining and financing services.
Larger transactions are often executed through OTC trades, avoiding public exchanges to prevent considerable price swings.
Michael Higgins, International CEO and Global Head of Corporate Development for Hidden Road, commented: "The digital asset market in the U.S. has largely been underserved in terms of product variety. Despite OTC swaps representing a substantial portion of digital asset trading volumes globally, until now, they have been largely unavailable to U.S. institutions."
He further added, "With the launch of our swap prime brokerage capabilities for the U.S. market, we are now able to offer clients access to an extensive range of products and solutions."
Approximately two months after acquiring Hidden Road at a valuation of $1.5 billion, Ripple is supporting the newly acquired firm to expand its capacity and services, aiming to become one of the largest non-bank prime brokers worldwide.
Our website previously reported that this move surpassed merely a corporate deal, as it was meant to create a pipeline for institutional flows into the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and the network's native asset, XRP. This collaboration would allow Ripple to expand the XRP ecosystem, shifting it from managing retail remittances and enterprise payments to handling institutional treasury flows and liquidity management.
With Hidden Road, which processes over $3 trillion in annual volume for more than 300 top market makers, hedge funds, and trading firms globally, Ripple is moving steadily towards evolving its payment ecosystem.
American institutional clients can exchange OTC swaps in various cryptocurrencies confidentially through the FCA-regulated United Kingdom arm of Hidden Road. This move by Ripple, a digital asset infrastructure provider, aims to expand its capacity and services, positioning itself as one of the largest non-bank prime brokers in the global finance business, leveraging technology to facilitate trading in cryptocurrencies.
