Robinhood announces the $200m acquisition of Bitstamp

Trading platform Robinhood is making a major step into the world of crypto, but also a huge gamble. The company recently announced its decision to buy a major crypto exchange, Bitstamp, in a deal that will end up costing it $200 million in cash.

Robinhood To Buy Bitstamp

Robinhood’s deal surprised many, but it also confirmed that the trading platform is ready to take the next step and make a broader push into the digital asset sector. This will certainly be its biggest crypto-related deal so far, but it will also allow the firm to expand its product offering significantly.

This, too, is only a stepping stone for the firm, however, as its real goal is to become a full-fledged financial services provider and become a direct competitor to industry giants such as Coinbase and Binance.

Bitstamp itself was founded in 2011, and over the years, it managed to secure 50 active licenses and registrations, which it holds to this day. At its core, this is a spot exchange, and as such, it became quite popular in European and Asian countries.

Bitstamp features more than 85 tradeable assets, which come in many pairs. These assets and pairs will now help support Robinhood and its own growth moving forward.

Commenting on the acquisition, Robinhood Crypto’s VP and general manager, Johann Kerbrat, said that the firm is in its early days in the EU and it is excited about the opportunity to keep its expansion. The acquisition of Bitstamp will also accelerate the firm’s global expansion, not only the EU one.

The deal is expected to close at some point during the first half of 2025, and it comes at a time when Robinhood’s crypto business started seeing considerable growth. However, given the fact that the company operates in the US, involving itself further with the crypto industry could lead Robinhood to additional regulatory hurdles.

The US SEC Continues To Pursue Crypto Firms

It is no secret that the US financial regulator, the SEC, has been targeting crypto firms for years. Last year, it sued both Binance and Coinbase, claiming that they are offering unlicensed securities without being authorized to add such assets.

While the crypto industry managed to win some court battles against the SEC, those are still in the minority, as the US still remains largely crypto-unfriendly. This might change in the near future; however, with the US presidential elections now only a few months away, some of the candidates have stood out as crypto supporters.

However, for the time being, the future of crypto in the US remains uncertain. Even so, for Robinhood, it makes sense to try to push deeper into the sector, as its crypto business ended up being the driving force behind its massive Q1 earning beat, as reported in May.

However, that same week, the company said that it had received the so-called Wells notice from the US SEC, which typically sends this notice as a warning to companies that it intends to sue next. However, Robinhood seemed quite certain of its research into the listed cryptocurrencies, claiming that it had made sure that they do not fall under the category of securities, which is why it intends to fight a long legal battle if the SEC decides to proceed.