After a 12-month wait, the completion of the All-Cash transaction adds the institution’s revenue line to the Robinhood armory with more than 50 licenses, 4 million customers, and the institution’s revenue line.
Robinhood closed its one-year $200 million acquisition of Bitstamp, one of the oldest crypto exchanges in the world, and won California FinTech overnight into the global heavyweights, attracted primarily US regulators.
“Bitstamp is now part of Robinhood, adding globally scale crypto exchanges and the first-ever institutional cryptocurrency business,” CEO Vlad Tenev said on Tuesday that the transaction was closed.
“The BitStamp team has established one of the strongest reputations in retail and institutional crypto investors. Through this strategic combination, it’s better to expand our footprint outside the US and welcome agency customers to Robinhood.”
– JB Graftieaux, BitStamp CEO
Why is this important?
Instant Passport – Purchases drop more than 50 active licenses directly into the stack of Robinhoods in Europe, Asia and the US, and approve approvals that took years to acquire organic. The “BitStamp-as-a-Service” desk opens Robinhood’s higher margin customer segments at a time when fee pressure on retail transactions is increasing. The regulatory cloud is clear.
Terms and Funds
The transaction, announced on June 6, 2024, has not changed at all, subject to hundreds of millions of dollars of cash, no inventory components and customary closure adjustments. Robinhood has been bolstered by five consecutive profitable quarters, making payments, combining crypto rise and trusting with its own cash generation engine, tapping on the Balance Sheet War Chest.
DateMilestone6 June 6, 2024 announces its intention to purchase BitStamps with $2 million in cash. BitStamp will become a wholly owned subsidiary.
Strategic Calculations
Licensed glove. The European Crypto Assets (MICA) regime allows regional approvals to be “passported” across the block. Buy Bit Stamp Shortcuts for many years, quickly unlock 27 EU countries. Product expansion. BitStamp lists more than 85 assets and operates loan, staking and white label custody. Robinhood suggests that if regulatory clarity improves, they will “selectively” port these to the US app. About a quarter of BitStamp’s trading volume comes from high-frequency market makers and family offices. This is Robinhood’s new sticky revenue stream, which relies heavily on paying for retail order flows at home.
“This partnership brings to Robinhood a globally reduced crypto exchange with customers in the EU, UK, US and Asia.
Importantly, the acquisition introduces Robinhood’s first institutional crypto business. ”
– Johann Carblatt, GM Robinhood Crypto
A competitive landscape
Coinbase has held an Irish electronic money license since 2019 and has designated Dublin as its MICA hub in late 2023. We have a single CASP application in place, so we can provide passport services across the EU.
Kraken has chosen a license for the acquisition. In September 2023, we also secured an electronic money license in Ireland and a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) registration in the Netherlands in the early 2024. These approvals provide Kraken-compliant Fiat Rails without the need to purchase the infrastructure entirely.
Binance remains in the European defenses. The Belgian FSMA banned the service citing the lack of the EU’s presence approved in June 2023, and French prosecutors launched a formal investigation in January 2025 into money laundering and aggravated fraud.
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By writing a $200 million check, Robin Hood jumped through the slogan of long-standing regulations, connecting directly to the Mica era in Europe, winning the ready-made institutional business.
The race is to integrate smoothly and convince both BitStamp’s stubborn and Robin Hood’s loyalists that a one-stop transatlantic crypto shop can fulfill its promise.
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