Several significant events have occurred in the crypto space in the last 24 hours, including Ripple's acquisition, the debut of the first XRP ETF in the U.S., and BlackRock's bitcoin sale.
Acquisition of Hidden Road
Ripple, based in San Francisco, announced the acquisition of brokerage firm Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. This event makes Ripple the first cryptocurrency company to own and operate a global multi-asset prime broker. Hidden Road serves hundreds of institutional clients, including hedge funds and quantitative traders. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse commented on the deal, stating that "Hidden Road will significantly expand its capacity and become the largest non-bank prime broker globally."
Debut of First U.S.-Based XRP ETF
April 8 marked the successful debut of the first U.S.-based XRP ETF, which demonstrated a trading volume of $5 million on its first day. Bloomberg's senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that this performance places the new ETF in the top 5% of recent launches. Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton remarked, "despite the negative sentiment, XRP has much more appeal than many want to admit." The new XRP ETF provides 2x leveraged exposure to XRP for short-term speculation on volatility.
BlackRock Sells Bitcoin
According to Lookonchain, BlackRock executed a transaction worth approximately $254 million, depositing 3,296 BTC on Coinbase. This major transaction raised concerns among market participants, as such large transfers could indicate the intention to sell. Although this is the first significant sale from BlackRock since the launch of Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, it is unlikely that BlackRock is divesting its holdings; rather, the sale may have resulted from outflows from its Bitcoin ETF IBIT. Currently, BlackRock holds 572,074 BTC, worth about $44.89 billion.
Thus, the recent events in the crypto sphere reflect the activity of major players and their strategic moves in the market, including acquisitions, the introduction of new financial instruments, and asset movements.
