Ripple Labs’ Hidden Road Secures FINRA License: Game-Changer Set to Boost XRP Price to $2.8?

In the latest XRP news, the Ripple Hidden Road acquisition just hit a major milestone as the prime brokerage firm secured a broker-dealer license from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). This signals a bold leap into traditional finance and sets the stage for a potential surge in XRP prices.

Hidden Road’s FINRA Approval: A Strategic Masterstroke for Ripple

Hidden Road Partners CIV US LLC’s new FINRA membership allows it to expand its fixed income prime brokerage services, including clearing, financing, and prime brokerage for institutional investors, according to Ripple Labs and Hidden Road’s president, Noel Kimmel. “Our broker-dealer registration is a significant step in the development of Hidden Road’s fixed income prime brokerage platform and bolsters our capabilities in traditional financial markets,” Kimmel said. 

He added, “As a FINRA member, we will be able to bring our best-in-class, technology-driven fixed income service offering to an expanded universe of institutional clients. Our business has tremendous momentum, and we look forward to continuing to provide superior execution and support to our clients amidst today’s exceptionally dynamic market environment.” 

The FINRA license not only broadens Hidden Road’s institutional reach but also enables 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, leveraging Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin as collateral for trades.

XRP’s Price: Suppressed Now, Exploding Later?

Despite this latest XRP news, the price remains subdued around $2, prompting speculation among analysts that Ripple is deliberately keeping XRP’s valuation low to execute its long-term strategy under the radar. Crypto analyst Levi remarked, “Hidden Road isn’t a flex. It’s infrastructure. It’s the final puzzle piece, giving Ripple a fully integrated, lightning-fast, global value settlement system.” He added, “XRP at $2 isn’t undervalued, it’s deliberately suppressed. 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 also made bold claims that if things go right for XRP, we may soon see a rise to $28 and above. 

XRP Price Analysis: XRP Dips Closer to $2

XRP started the day on a downtrend, going from $2.0879 to $2.0622 in the first three hours of trading. With the RSI nearly overbought, a trend reversal was seen at 3:30 UTC. The following upward trend was supported by a golden cross, taking XRP up to $2.1074. The price continued to stabilize around that level for the rest of the morning. However, as we approached noon, XRP ascended slowly to test the $2.1148 resistance. 

Chart 1: published on TradingView, April 18, 2025

But, failure to break the resistance led to a sharp correction, as XRP plunged to $2.0608. The coin was highly overbought at this point, and an uptrend started forming, but could only take XRP as far as $2.1015. With a death cross at 18:35 UTC, XRP dipped to $2.055. Oversold conditions persisted on the RSI as XRP began to climb again. But the XRP price soon found resistance at $2.079. Since then, XRP has exhibited range-bound behavior, alternating between the resistance and the support at $2.0472. 

XRP Price Prediction: Can XRP Prevent Sub-$2 Level?

XRP has been on a slow decline recently. After the Black Monday crash, XRP staged a brilliant recovery at first, but has since been unable to crack the $2.2 resistance. Its initial tests led to failure, and since the past few days, XRP has been sliding down gradually. Given that, XRP might go on to abandon the support in the coming hours and dip closer to $2. If it can hold that level for the coming days, some positive XRP news may come out soon. As XRP Ledger also gains institutional interest, more ‘up’ is due for XRP