Ripple backs $25m round for crypto platform Bitnomial

Ripple led a $25 million funding round for Bitnomial, a digital assets derivatives exchange and brokerage platform based and regulated in the United States.

Bitnomial announced on Oct. 15 that Ripple, the company behind XRP (XRP), led the funding round. This comes as the platform prepares for a public launch of Botanical, the startup’s perpetual futures trading platform.

According to details in a press release, Botanical is designed to offer users access to perpetual futures, traditional futures, and options trading. The platform remains in closed beta, but its public rollout will provide users with products that comply with U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulations.

Bitnomial is a CFTC-registered platform operating as a futures commission merchant via its Bitnomial Clearing, LLC.

Ripple chief executive officer Brad Garlinghouse commented that Bitnomial is spearheading a new era for the regulated derivatives market.

“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.”

Brad Garlinghouse.

Bitnomial plans to tap into Ripple’s soon-to-launch stablecoin RLUSD for settlement, Garlinghouse added. Notably, Ripple has listed several exchanges and platforms as RLUSD launch partners. 

On the regulatory front, Bitnomial recently sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over the agency’s continued reference to XRP as a security. Ripple on its part filed a notice of cross appeal after the SEC filed its own notice of appeal related to the Ripple vs. SEC case.

In July 2023, a judge in the U.S. ruled that XRP is not a security and that secondary sales on exchanges did not by themselves constitute securities investment contracts.