Robinhood bets big on crypto with $200 million deal for Bitstamp

By Manya Saini

(Reuters) – Trading platform Robinhood Markets said on Thursday it has agreed to buy cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp for about $200 million in cash, accelerating a broader push into digital assets in its biggest deal yet.

The 11-year-old trading app popular among retail traders aims to expand its product offerings to evolve into a full-fledged financial services provider.

The acquisition of Bitstamp, which was founded in 2011 and has 50 active licenses and registrations worldwide, puts Robinhood in direct competition with industry giants such as Binance and Coinbase.

Bitstamp will power Robinhood Crypto’s growth and is set to become its first institutional business. Bitstamp’s core spot exchange, popular in Europe and Asia, has over 85 tradable assets and includes products such as staking and lending.

“We are in our early days in the EU and are excited to continue expanding there and beyond. The acquisition of Bitstamp will accelerate our global expansion,” Robinhood Crypto Vice President and General Manager Johann Kerbrat told Reuters.

The deal, which is expected to close in the first half of 2025, comes at a time when Robinhood’s crypto business is experiencing rapid growth but also faces regulatory hurdles in the United States.

Kerbrat said the company plans to continue communicating with regulators as it moves forward.

Robinhood’s crypto business was the driving force behind a massive earnings jump in the first quarter in May, but that same week it also announced it had received a ‘Wells’ notice from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The notice signals possible upcoming enforcement action.

The market regulator argued that crypto tokens should be considered securities and subject to registration rules. Cryptocurrency companies accused the SEC of overdoing it.

Robinhood’s shares have risen 69% this year after it pledged to pursue ‘profitable growth’. Analysts expect it to be poised for further gains as retail trading revives and cryptocurrency adoption increases.

(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)