Hidden Road Gains Broker License as Ripple Expands Into Wall Street
Ripple’s latest acquisition, prime brokerage firm Hidden Road, has cleared a major regulatory hurdle that could fast-track its entry into traditional finance.
After finalizing a $1.25 billion deal to bring the firm under its umbrella, Ripple now benefits from Hidden Road’s newly acquired broker-dealer license, granted by FINRA.
The license unlocks access to U.S. fixed-income markets, allowing Hidden Road to expand its services to include regulated clearing and financing for institutional clients. It also reinforces the firm’s credibility with legacy financial institutions—something industry observers, like Telos Capital Advisors, say is crucial for long-term integration into traditional markets.
Hidden Road, which originally focused on foreign exchange markets, now clears over $10 billion daily for more than 300 institutional clients. Its broad infrastructure and scale made it an attractive acquisition target for Ripple, which is aiming to bridge the gap between crypto-native networks and traditional financial services.
Ripple executives see the move as a transformative moment. CTO David Schwartz described the acquisition as a pivotal step in expanding the use cases for the XRP Ledger beyond crypto, while CEO Brad Garlinghouse predicted that Hidden Road could soon become the world’s largest non-bank prime broker.
This bold expansion comes amid a friendlier U.S. regulatory climate. With Donald Trump’s return to office, Ripple secured key money transmitter licenses in Texas and New York earlier this year. That momentum accelerated when the SEC dropped its long-standing lawsuit against the company in March—a decision that crypto attorney John Deaton said finally classifies XRP as a commodity, not a security.
Further regulatory shifts may be on the way. On April 9, the U.S. Senate confirmed Paul Atkins—a noted crypto advocate—as the incoming chair of the SEC. His leadership could signal a new era of policy direction, one that Ripple appears well-positioned to capitalize on.
Kosta Gushterov
Reporter at Coindoo
Kosta has been a part of the team since 2021 and has solidified his position with a thirst for knowledge, incredible dedication to his work and a “detective-like” mindset. He not only covers a wide range of trending topics, he also creates reviews, PR articles and educational content. His work has also been referenced by other news outlets.
