Robinhood Markets is set to acquire cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp for $200 million.
“Acquiring a global exchange will significantly accelerate Robinhood Crypto’s expansion worldwide,” the company said in a news release Thursday (June 6). “Bitstamp holds over 50 active licenses and registrations globally and will bring in customers across the EU, UK, US and Asia to Robinhood.”
According to the release, the acquisition of Luxembourg-based Bitstamp marks Robinhood’s first institutional business, giving it access to Bitstamp’s other institutional offerings such as white label solution Bitstamp-as-a-service, institutional lending, and staking.
“The acquisition of Bitstamp is a major step in growing our crypto business. Bitstamp’s highly trusted and long standing global exchange has shown resilience through market cycles,” said Johann Kerbrat, general manager of Robinhood Crypto. “By seamlessly coupling customer experience with safety across geographies, the Bitstamp team has established one of the strongest reputations across retail and institutional crypto investors.”
Added Bitstamp CEO JB Graftieaux: “As the world’s longest running cryptocurrency exchange, Bitstamp is known as one of the most-trusted and transparent crypto platforms worldwide. Bringing Bitstamp’s platform and expertise into Robinhood’s ecosystem will give users an enhanced trading experience with a continuing commitment to compliance, security, and customer-centricity.”
Last month, Robinhood reported earnings that exceeded expectations, a surge in profits attributed in part to the company’s thriving crypto business. That business was in turn boosted by the approval of the first spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the U.S. earlier this year.
At the same time, Robinhood faces challenges, such as the recent Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a sign of impending enforcement action against the company, one which raises concerns about the future of Robinhood’s crypto trading arm.
The company has argued its firm belief that the crypto assets listed on its platform are not securities, and that it would fight the SEC’s enforcement efforts.
“After years of good faith attempts to work with the SEC for regulatory clarity including our well-known attempt to ‘come in and register,’ we are disappointed that the agency has decided to issue a Wells Notice related to our U.S. crypto business,” Dan Gallagher, the company’s chief legal, compliance and corporate affairs officer, said in a blog post.
