Ripple, a company known for XRP, recently invested $25 million in Bitnomial, a digital assets derivatives exchange and brokerage platform based in the United States. Bitnomial made the announcement on October 15th, revealing that Ripple led the funding round. This investment comes as Bitnomial prepares to publicly launch Botanical, its perpetual futures trading platform.
The Botanical platform is designed to offer users access to perpetual futures, traditional futures, and options trading. While currently in closed beta, the public rollout of Botanical will provide users with products that comply with regulations set by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Bitnomial is registered with the CFTC and operates as a futures commission merchant through Bitnomial Clearing, LLC.
Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, praised Bitnomial for its efforts in revolutionizing the regulated derivatives market. He stated, “Bitnomial’s approach to bringing offshore trading models into the U.S. derivatives industry presents a significant market opportunity as they establish a compliant derivatives market for digital assets, such as XRP.”
In addition to the investment, Bitnomial plans to utilize Ripple’s upcoming stablecoin RLUSD for settlement purposes. Ripple has listed various exchanges and platforms as RLUSD launch partners, indicating a growing ecosystem around this stablecoin.
Despite these positive developments, Bitnomial recently took legal action against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its classification of XRP as a security. Ripple also filed a notice of cross-appeal following the SEC’s notice of appeal in the Ripple vs. SEC case. It’s worth noting that in a July 2023 ruling, a U.S. judge determined that XRP is not a security and that secondary sales on exchanges do not inherently constitute securities investment contracts.
Overall, Ripple’s investment in Bitnomial signifies a growing partnership between the two companies, aiming to advance the digital assets market within the regulatory framework of the United States. With the upcoming launch of Botanical and the integration of RLUSD, Bitnomial is poised to offer innovative trading solutions while complying with established regulations.
