During the early US hours on Thursday, Robinhood announced that it is going to acquire crypto exchange Bitstamp. Via this move, the American FinServ company is looking to expand its presence in the crypto space. It is also looking to put to sea new product offerings in a bid to acquire new institutional clients.
According to details chalked out in the announcement, the all-cash deal is expected to wind up in the first half of 2025. Meanwhile, regulatory approvals and other formal proceedings will be taken care of. Robinhood expects the final deal consideration to be around $200 million.
Founded in 2011, Bitstamp is a UK-based crypto exchange that rose to popularity to become one of the largest crypto exchanges in Europe.
At the moment, Bitstamp holds more than 50 active licenses and registrations worldwide. The latest deal will help bring in customers from the EU, UK, US, and Asia to Robinhood.
Over 85 tradable assets are already listed on the core spot exchange. Additionally, the exchange already offers other services like staking and lending in parallel. Its books get audited by a Big Four accounting firm.
Barclays Capital financially advised Robinhood on the deal, while Galaxy Digital presumed the same role for Bitstamp.
Commenting on the latest development, Johann Kerbrat, General Manager of Robinhood Crypto, said,
“The acquisition of Bitstamp is a major step in growing our crypto business. Through this strategic combination, we are better positioned to expand our footprint outside of the US and welcome institutional customers to Robinhood.”
Over the past day, the exchange has settled more than $238 million worth of transactions on its exchange. BTC/USD, XRP/EUR, and BTC/EUR remain to be the top three traded pairs on the exchange.
In another recent development, crypto payment firm MoonPay cut 10% of its workforce. It attributed the layoffs to its high-cost structure and below-par operating margins. However, executives have affirmed that the company remains to be "financially sound and strong” and has “years of runway ahead.”
