Source: Sharecast
Ripple said that with the acquisition, which is one of the largest deals in the digital assets space, it becomes the first crypto company to own and operate a global, multi-asset prime broker.
It said Hidden Road "is one of the fastest-growing prime brokers around the world", offering institutions a one-stop-shop of advanced services including clearing, prime brokerage, and financing across foreign exchange (FX), digital assets, derivatives, swaps, and fixed income.
Ripple said Hidden Road has a strong business, clearing $3 trillion annually across markets with more than 300 top institutional customers.
Chief executive Brad Garlinghouse said: "We are at an inflection point for the next phase of digital asset adoption - the US market is effectively open for the first time due to the regulatory overhang of the former SEC coming to an end, and the market is maturing to address the needs of traditional finance.
"With these tailwinds, we are continuing to pursue opportunities to massively transform the space, leveraging our position and the strengths of XRP to accelerate our business and enhance our current solutions and technology."
Marc Asch, founder and CEO of Hidden Road, said: "With new resources, licenses, and added risk capital, this deal will unlock significant growth in Hidden Road’s business, allowing us to increase capacity to our customer base, expand into new products, and service more markets and asset classes.
"Together with Ripple, we’re bringing the same level of trust and reliability that institutional clients are accustomed to in traditional markets - designed and optimised for a digital world."