- 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 is acquiring one of the industryâs oldest crypto exchanges Bitstamp, expanding the stock-trading appâs crypto footprint.
The acquisition is worth approximately $200 million, according to Robinhoodâs announcement. The deal is expected to close in 2025.
âThrough this strategic combination, we are better positioned to expand our footprint outside of the US and welcome institutional customers to Robinhood,â said Johan Kerbrat, general manager of Robinhood Crypto, in the announcement.
Robinhoodâs acquisition highlights how a slew of fintech companies â such as Revout, Stripe, and PayPal â are making crypto a cornerstone of their business.
However, the fintech has also found itself in the Securities and Exchange Commissionâs crosshairs because of its crypto services.
Robinhoodâs crypto push
Robinhood is betting big on crypto.
Kerbrat has told DL News it wants to be âthe on-ramp to the crypto world.â
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.
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The efforts are paying off.
Before the Bitstamp acquisition hit the wire, research firm Bernstein estimated that Robinhoodâs crypto push would catapult its market cap to about $26 billion in 2025, up from almost $19 billion today.
The companyâs crypto arm drove its growth in the last quarter of 2023, with its cryptocurrency revenue surging to $43 million of the companyâs total $200 million in transaction-based revenue.
For 2023 as a whole, cryptocurrencies made up for 17% of the companyâs $785 million in transaction-based revenue.
The new acquisition fits into this drive.
What is Bitstamp?
Bitstamp markets itself as one of the worldâs 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 billion 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.
âWe firmly believe that the assets listed on our platform are not securities,â Dan Gallagher, Robinhoodâs chief legal officer, said at the time.
Robinhood and Bistamp did not immediately respond to DL Newsâ request for comment.
Liam Kelly is a DeFi Correspondent at DL News. Eric Johansson is DL Newsâ News Editor. Got a tip? Email them at liam@dlnews.com and eric@dlnews.com.