Bitstamp finally folds into Robinhood in $200M merger, unlocking global crypto passport

After a waiting period of 12 months, the completion of the All-Cash Deal adds more than 50 licenses, four million customers and an institutional income line to the Arsenal of Robinhood.

Robinhood has Closed The annual, $ 200 million takeover of Bitstamp, one of the world’s oldest crypto fairs, catapulting of the California Fintech of a largely American player in a regulator-blessed global heavyweight at night.

“Bitstamp is now part of Robinhood and adds a globally scaled crypto exchange and our very first institutional crypto activities,” Chief Executive Vlad Tenev said Because the deal was proclaimed on Tuesday.

“Bitstamp team has set up one of the strongest reputations between retail and institutional crypto investors. Through this strategic combination we are better positioned to expand our footprint outside the US and welcome institutional customers in Robinhood.”
– JB GraftieAuxBitstamp CEO

Why this matters

• Direct Passport – The purchase drops more than 50 active licenses in Europe, Asia and the US directly in the stack of Robinhood, approvals that would have lasted for years to win organically.
• Wider product menu – Robinhood can now offer 85+ listed coins, deployment and loaning products, much further than the 15 tokens available in the American app.
• First institutional position – The White label Guardianship of Bitstamp and the agencies “Bitstamp-as-a-Service” open a customer segment with a higher margins for Robinhood in a time when the rate pressure on the retail trade is increasing.
• Regulatory clouds clear – The US Securities and Exchange Commission closed a long -running probe crypto in February and removed the last roadblock to the merger.

Deal conditions and financing

Announced On June 6, 2024, the transaction remained unchanged: $ 200 million in cash, not a stock component, subject to usual closing adjustments. Robinhood tapped the war box, reinforced by five consecutive profitable quarters, to pay trust in the crypto-up swing and in his own cash generation engine.

Strategic calculus

1. License grip. Under Europe’s markets-in-Crypto-assets (MICA) regime, regional approvals can be “passport” in the block; Buying bitstamp shortcuts of paperwork immediately unlocks 27 EU countries.
2. Product expansion. Bitstamp provides an overview of 85+ assets and manages loans, deployments and white label guardianship; Robinhood has hinted that it will portray this “selective” in its American app as soon as the regulatory clarity improves.
3. Institutional income. About a quarter of the trade volumes of Bitstamp comes from high-frequency market makers and family agencies, a new, stickier income flow for Robinhood, which is highly dependent on the Retail order flow payments at home.

‘This collaboration brings a globally scaled crypto exchange to Robinhood with customers throughout the EU, the UK, the US and Asia.

It is important that this acquisition introduces the first institutional crypto activities of Robinhood.“
– Johann KerbratGM Robinhood Crypto

Competitive landscape

Coinbase has held an Irish E-money permit since 2019 and has designated Dublin as his Mica Hub at the end of 2023. It is preparing a single CASP application, allowing passport services throughout the EU.

Crack has opted for licenses over acquisitions. In September 2023 it also won an E-money permit in Ireland and a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) registration in the Netherlands in the early 2024, two of Europe’s most active crypto markets. These authorizations give cracking fiat rails without having to buy infrastructure.

Binance Remains in the defense in Europe. The FSMA of Belgium forbade its services in June 2023, stating a lack of authorized EU presence, and French prosecutors launched a formal probe to alleged money laundering of money and aggravated fraud in January 2025. The regulating Drag has left a vacuum, now, with Bitstamp with Bitstamp with Bitstamp with Bitstamp with Bitstamp, with Bitstamp, with Bitstamp, with Bitstamp, with Bitstamp, with Bitstamp, with Bitstamp, with Bitstamp, with Bitstamp, with Bitstamp, with Bitstamp, with Bitstamp, with Bitstamp, with Bitstamp, with Bitstamp, with Bitstamp, with Bitstamp.

By writing a check of $ 200 million, Robinhood-years of years of legal slog is jumping directly on the Mica era of Europe and a ready-made institutional company.

The race is to integrate smoothly and to convince both Bitstamp Die-hards and Robinhood-Loyalists that a transatlantic, one-stop crypto store can make its promise.

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