Robinhood to accumulate Bitstamp crypto alternate in $200 million deal

Inventory buying and selling platform Robinhood has made its largest guess but on digital currencies with an announcement Thursday that it’ll purchase crypto alternate Bitsamp for about $200 million. 

The deal marks its biggest-ever push into the digital belongings trade, the corporate mentioned in an announcement Thursday, and can make it a competitor to bigger crypto buying and selling corporations like Binance and Coinbase. The deal is anticipated to shut within the first half of 2025.

“The acquisition of Bitstamp is a significant step in rising our crypto enterprise. Bitstamp’s extremely trusted and lengthy standing international alternate has proven resilience by means of market cycles,” Robinhood Crypto common supervisor Johann Kerbrat mentioned within the assertion. He added that the acquisition will permit Robinhood to develop its footprint internationally and purchase institutional prospects.

Robinhood is a web-based buying and selling platform that promotes commission-free investing. It is the equal of a web-based brokerage agency, however would not full shopper trades. As a substitute, it sends them to different buying and selling corporations, that match consumers with sellers of shares and pay Robinhood a fee on the trades. 

The corporate’s acquisition of Bitstamp would introduce Robinhood’s first institutional enterprise. 

“Bringing Bitstamp’s platform and experience into Robinhood’s ecosystem will give customers an enhanced buying and selling expertise with a unbroken dedication to compliance, safety and customer-centricity,” Bitstamp CEO JB Graftieaux mentioned in an announcement Thursday. 

Certainly, Robinhood’s latest profitability has been tied to its fledgling crypto enterprise. The corporate reported a revenue of $157 million or 18 cents per share for the primary quarter, beating analyst estimates. Its income had been pushed in social gathering by excessive crypto buying and selling volumes. 

The transaction comes as a few of the nation’s largest monetary firms introduce merchandise geared toward bizarre traders keen to place cash in digital currencies. 

After the Securities and Trade Fee accredited spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds, trade giants together with BlackRock, Constancy Investments and Franklin Templeton raced different gamers to roll out crypto ETFs. These investments permit consumers to realize publicity to bitcoin with out instantly proudly owning it, amongst different advantages.