EP 9 — Cross-Asset Prime Brokerage: How Hidden Road Bridges Traditional Finance and Digital Assets
Derivatives Decoded22 Syys 2025

EP 9 — Cross-Asset Prime Brokerage: How Hidden Road Bridges Traditional Finance and Digital Assets

Institutional traders need infrastructure that works across both traditional and digital asset markets. Michael Higgins explains how Hidden Road built pension fund-backed prime brokerage that processes $15 billion daily across CME futures and crypto venues, proving sophisticated cross-asset infrastructure can serve institutional flow regardless of market type.

With regulatory capital requirements making crypto unviable for traditional banks, Hidden Road created an alternative model that positions counterparty credit risk as an investable asset class for institutional capital. When FTX collapsed, their exchange risk spread protection made clients whole immediately, demonstrating that properly structured institutional infrastructure works in digital assets.

Topics Discussed:

  • Alternative funding models for institutional digital asset infrastructure
  • Cross-margining opportunities between traditional and crypto derivatives
  • Real-time risk management across fragmented institutional trading venues
  • Evolution of counterparty relationships from unregulated entities to institutional-grade operations
  • Integration challenges and opportunities between 24/7 digital markets and traditional business-hour settlement
  • Institutional adoption patterns and infrastructure requirements for sophisticated trading operations
  • Strategic rationale behind major infrastructure acquisitions in digital asset prime brokerage

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