Ripple's Hidden Road Secures FINRA License, Integrates XRP Ledger

Ripple Labs has achieved a significant milestone with its subsidiary, Hidden Road, securing a broker-dealer license from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). This development marks a strategic move for Ripple, allowing it to integrate its XRP Ledger technology into traditional financial markets. Hidden Road Partners CIV US LLC, the prime brokerage firm, will now expand its fixed income prime brokerage services, including clearing, financing, and prime brokerage for institutional investors.

Noel Kimmel, the president of Hidden Road, highlighted the importance of this FINRA membership, stating that it is a crucial step in developing Hidden Road’s fixed income prime brokerage platform. This license enables the firm to offer its technology-driven fixed income services to a broader range of institutional clients. Kimmel emphasized that the business has tremendous momentum and is poised to provide superior execution and support to clients in the current dynamic market environment.

The FINRA license not only broadens Hidden Road’s institutional reach but also allows Ripple to integrate XRP Ledger technology into traditional financial workflows. Hidden Road plans to migrate post-trade operations onto the XRP Ledger, aiming to reduce settlement times from hours to minutes and cut operational costs. This integration leverages Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin as collateral for trades, further enhancing the efficiency and security of financial transactions.

Despite this significant development, the price of XRP remains subdued around $2. Analysts speculate that Ripple may be deliberately keeping XRP’s valuation low to execute its long-term strategy under the radar. Crypto analyst Levi remarked that Hidden Road’s infrastructure is the final puzzle piece, giving Ripple a fully integrated, lightning-fast, global value settlement system. He suggested that XRP at $2 is not undervalued but deliberately suppressed, and when the switch flips, the revaluation won’t be gradual; it’ll be instant.

This suggests that Ripple’s quiet build-out of financial infrastructure could trigger a sudden XRP price rally once the ecosystem gains full momentum. Analysts have made bold claims that if things go right for XRP, we may soon see a rise to $28 and above. However, it is important to note that these are analysts' forecasts and not actual data.