- The deal is worth $200 million in cash and is expected to close in 2025.
- Bitstamp hosted more than $232 billion in trading volume today.
Robinhood said it will acquire one of the industry’s oldest crypto exchanges Bitstamp, expanding the stock-trading app’s crypto footprint.
The acquisition is worth approximately $200 million, according to Robinhood’s announcement. The deal is expected to close in 2025.
“Through this strategic combination, we are better positioned to expand our footprint outside of the US and welcome institutional customers to Robinhood,” said Johan Kerbrat, general manager of Robinhood Crypto, in the announcement.
Galaxy Digital served as the exclusive financial advisor to Bitstamp in this deal. Barclays Capital advised Robinhood.
Robinhood’s acquisition highlights how a slew of fintech companies — such as Revout, Stripe, and PayPal — are making crypto a cornerstone of their business.
However, the fintech has also found itself in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s crosshairs because of its crypto services.
Robinhood’s crypto push
Robinhood is betting big on crypto.
Kerbrat has told DL News it wants to be “the on-ramp to the crypto world.”
DL News recently revealed that the stock-trading app is recruiting for its crypto team on the back of launching a crypto trading service in the European Union, and expanding its crypto wallet with an Arbitrum add-on.
The efforts are paying off.
Before the Bitstamp acquisition hit the wire, research firm Bernstein estimated that Robinhood’s crypto push would catapult its market cap to about $26 billion in 2025, up from almost $19 billion today.
The company’s crypto arm drove its growth in the last quarter of 2023, with its cryptocurrency revenue surging to $43 million of the company’s total $200 million in transaction-based revenue.
For 2023 as a whole, cryptocurrencies made up for 17% of the company’s $785 million in transaction-based revenue.
The new acquisition fits into this drive.
What is Bitstamp?
Bitstamp markets itself as one of the world’s oldest crypto exchanges, having been founded in 2011.
Today, it serves users in Asia, the US, Europe, and the UK. It also already offers services like lending and staking, which are key components of crypto markets after buying and selling tokens.
The exchange posted more than $232 million in trading volume in the last day, according to CoinGecko.
The SEC
The announcement comes as the SEC has made Robinhood a target due to its crypto business.
In a May 8-K filing, Robinhood revealed that the SEC had contacted the firm to notify them of its recommendation to file an enforcement action.
The markets watchdog said that Robinhood was offering unregistered securities by letting users buy and sell various cryptocurrencies, a line of reasoning found in its actions against Coinbase and Consensys.
“We firmly believe that the assets listed on our platform are not securities,” Dan Gallagher, Robinhood’s chief legal officer, said at the time.
Robinhood did not immediately respond to DL News’ request for comment.
Liam Kelly is a DeFi Correspondent at DL News. Eric Johansson is DL News’ News Editor. Got a tip? Email them at liam@dlnews.com and eric@dlnews.com.