Robinhood Agrees To Buy Bitstamp For $200 Million, Signaling Intent To Challenge Binance, Coinbase

Updated: 07 June 2024

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Robinhood Markets agreed to buy crypto exchange Bitstamp for about $200 million in cash as the trading platform accelerates its expansion into digital assets, signaling greater competition for Coinbase and Binance.

“Acquiring a global exchange will significantly accelerate Robinhood Crypto’s expansion worldwide,” Bitstamp said in a statement. “Bitstamp holds over 50 active licenses and registrations globally and will bring in customers across the EU, UK, US and Asia to Robinhood.”

The exchange has about 500 staff, and offices in Luxembourg, Singapore, Slovenia, the UK and the US.

Bitstamp Acquisition To Put Robinhood In Competition With Coinbase And Binance

Bitstamp’s core spot trading services are popular in Europe and Asia, offering its users the ability to trade more than 85 tradable assets.

Robinhood wants to compete with Coinbase

This is bullish pic.twitter.com/F9HQ2aXqWL

— borovik (@3orovik) June 6, 2024

This new deal, which is expected to close within the first half of 2025, puts Robinhood in direct competition with crypto exchange giants Coinbase and Binance.

“The acquisition of Bitstamp will accelerate our global expansion,” the company’s Vice President and General Manager Johann Kerbrat told Reuters.

It follows a successful first-quarter performance for Robinhood, and an 86% surge in the company’s stock price this year after it vowed to chase profitable growth.

SEC Issue A Wells Notice

Amid its recent success and rapid growth, the trading business has also come under regulatory scrutiny. Robinhood revealed that it received a Wells Notice from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 6, which could be a precursor to upcoming enforcement action by the regulator.

The SEC is accusing Robinhood Crypto of securities violations under “Sections 15(a) and 17A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,” according to a filing.

Robinhood Chief Legal Officer Dan Gallagher on the 🇺🇸 SEC wells notice:

“After years of good faith attempts to work with the SEC for regulatory clarity including our well-known attempt to ‘come in and register,’ we are disappointed that the agency has decided to issue a Wells… pic.twitter.com/61WXTPogVI

— Lior (@liorsela) May 6, 2024

Robinhood said it was “disappointed” by the action after it had made years of ”good faith” attempts to work with the SEC and comply with evolving US regulation.