Markets
Robinhood agrees to acquire crypto exchange Bitstamp in global expansion effort
Online broker and trading Robinhood Markets Inc. said today that it agreed to acquire Bitstamp Ltd., a cryptocurrency exchange with global reach, in an effort to deepen the company’s cryptocurrency offerings and expand its customer base outside the United States .
Under the agreement, Bitstamp will be sold to Robinhood in a $200 million all-cash transaction, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the first half of 2025. Galaxy Digital Inc. and Barclays Capital Partners served as advisors on the transaction.
Bitstamp was founded in 2011 and operates a global cryptocurrency exchange with offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Singapore. The company holds more than 50 active licenses across the globe and would expand Robinhood’s existing cryptocurrency trading capabilities.
Robinhood added U.S. crypto trading to its platform during a slow rollout in 2018, starting with a small number of cryptocurrencies and expanding to more than 30 crypto assets, including Bitcoin and Ethereum . Bitstamp’s retail and institutional trading platform includes over 85 crypto assets and offers products such as staking and lending.
“Bitstamp’s long-standing and highly trusted global exchange has demonstrated resilience throughout market cycles,” said Johann Kerbrat, Managing Director of Robinhood Crypto. “With this strategic combination, we are better positioned to expand our presence outside of the United States and welcome institutional clients to Robinhood.”
This news comes a month after Robinhood received a “well notice” of enforcement actions from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission regarding cryptographic tokens traded on its platform. The notice itself does not constitute an action per se and does not mean that the company is involved in any wrongdoing, but the notice informs a company that the SEC is considering taking enforcement action.
“We strongly believe that the assets listed on our platform are not securities and we look forward to engaging with the SEC to clearly explain how weak any case against Robinhood Crypto would be,” Dan Gallagher, Director of Legal, Compliance and of corporate affairs at Robinhood, said at the time.
The SEC has stepped up its efforts against the crypto industry, issuing statements that companies that deal in cryptocurrencies must comply with securities laws in order to protect investors in the booming crypto markets of the same way as in mature stock markets. This led the SEC to file charges against many major crypto companies, including Coinbase Inc.the largest national crypto exchange, as well as Bittrex Inc., Genesis Global Capital LLC, Gemini Trust Co. LLC and Nexo Inc. just to name a few.
Picture: Pixabay
Your vote of support is important to us and helps us keep content FREE.
A click below supports our mission of providing free, in-depth and relevant content.
Join our community on YouTube
Join the community that includes more than 15,000 #CubeAlumni experts, including Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon.com, Michael Dell, Founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, and many more luminaries and experts.
“TheCUBE is an important partner to the industry. You are truly a part of our events and we really appreciate you coming and I know people also appreciate the content you create” – Andy Jassy
THANK YOU