Robinhood Cements Crypto Ambitions with $200M Bitstamp Takeover

Robinhood has formally accomplished its $200 million acquisition of Bitstamp, marking a daring step towards globalizing its crypto providers and deepening its attain into institutional markets.

The transfer positions Robinhood as a critical contender within the worldwide crypto scene, increasing past its U.S. base and into the European Union, the UK, and Asia.

Bitstamp’s Legacy Provides Weight to Robinhood’s Enlargement

Based in 2011, Bitstamp is the world’s longest-running crypto trade, with a popularity for reliability and transparency. With greater than 50 licenses and registrations globally, the platform has constructed a loyal buyer base amongst each retail customers and monetary establishments.

In accordance with a June 2 announcement, the acquisition isn’t nearly increasing geographies; it’s Robinhood’s formal entry into institutional crypto. Bitstamp brings with it merchandise like crypto-as-a-service, institutional staking, and lending, setting the stage for Robinhood to compete with heavyweight platforms on this house. The mixing additionally enhances the corporate’s product suite for retail merchants, promising smoother, safer, and various buying and selling experiences.

Johann Kerbrat, Basic Supervisor of Robinhood Crypto, stated the deal marks a “main step” in rising the agency’s digital asset division. He praised Bitstamp’s resilience throughout market downturns and its constant supply of safe and customer-centric providers. With this transfer, Robinhood doesn’t simply achieve infrastructure—it inherits a seasoned workforce and a globally trusted model.

Bitstamp’s CEO, JB Graftieaux, additionally expressed optimism, noting that becoming a member of forces with Robinhood would elevate the buying and selling expertise whereas sustaining a powerful give attention to compliance and transparency.

Regulatory Inexperienced Mild Clears the Runway

The timing couldn’t be higher. Robinhood just lately cleared a regulatory hurdle because the U.S. Securities and Trade Fee (SEC) closed its long-running investigation into the corporate’s crypto arm with out taking any motion.

The company had beforehand issued a Wells Discover over potential securities violations, however Robinhood maintained that its platform by no means facilitated trades in securities. The agency had already taken preemptive steps to delist sure tokens to remain aligned with U.S. regulatory expectations.

Final month, Robinhood submitted an in depth proposal to the SEC urging modernized regulation for tokenized real-world belongings (RWAs). It pressured that blockchain-based variations of belongings like actual property and equities must be handled underneath the identical authorized framework as their conventional types, not as derivatives.

The proposal additionally outlined plans for a Actual World Asset Trade, promising on-chain settlement, strict compliance options, and improved transparency.