Robinhood Markets has officially completed its acquisition of global cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp.
Speaking to Capital Pioneer ahead of today’s announcement, JB Graftieaux, chief executive officer of Bitstamp, said the deal would position Robinhood as a highly diversified exchange by adding Bitstamp’s institutional clients to its largely retail-heavy user base.
In an interview, he said: “Robinhood has a strong foundation in US crypto trading. This merger brings a highly complementary client mix.”
While Binance, Coinbase and Kraken are all well-known trading brands, Bitstamp sees its institutionally-focussed strategy as a competitive edge.
Since the start of the year, Bitstamp has also outlined plans to launch tokenisation services although the company won’t act as an issuer.
“Our goal is to support clients through the exchange side of the business,” Graftieaux says, pointing to rising demand for real-world asset tokenisation among institutional players.
In today’s official media acknowledgement of the deal completing, Johann Kerbrat, general manager of Robinhood Crypto said: “Through this strategic combination, we are better positioned to expand our footprint outside of the US and welcome institutional customers to Robinhood.
“The acquisition of Bitstamp is a major step in growing our crypto business. Bitstamp’s highly trusted and long standing global exchange has shown resilience through market cycles.
“By seamlessly coupling customer experience with safety across geographies, the Bitstamp team has established one of the strongest reputations across retail and institutional crypto investors.”
