Robinhood Markets Inc. is buying crytocurrency exchange Bitstamp for about $200 million in cash as the company looks to speed up its cryptocurrency expansion globally.
Bitstamp, founded in 2011, has offices in Luxembourg, the UK, Slovenia, Singapore, and the US. It has more than 50 active licenses and registrations worldwide and customers across the European Union, United Kingdom, United States and Asia.
Robinhood said Thursday that this will be its first institutional business.
"Bitstamp’s highly trusted and long standing global exchange has shown resilience through market cycles. 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,” Johann Kerbrat, general manager of Robinhood Crypto, said in a statement. “Through this strategic combination, we are better positioned to expand our footprint outside of the U.S. and welcome institutional customers to Robinhood.”
The deal is expected to close in the first half of next year.
The news comes a month after Robinhood Markets announced that it had received a notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission about alleged securities violations at its crypto division.
The company said in a regulatory filing that it received investigative subpoenas from the SEC about issues including cryptocurrency listings, custody of cryptocurrencies, and platform operations.
Robinhood Crypto has cooperated with the investigation, the company said.
Shares of Robinhood Markets rose more than 2% before the market open.
Before you make your next trade, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis.
Our team has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and none of the big name stocks were on the list.
They believe these five stocks are the five best companies for investors to buy now...
See The Five Stocks Here
As the AI market heats up, investors who have a vision for artificial intelligence have the potential to see real returns. Learn about the industry as a whole as well as seven companies that are getting work done with the power of AI.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
