Robinhood pushes into global markets through $200m acquisition of Bitstamp

Robinhood Markets, Inc. has formally concluded its acquisition of Bitstamp, one of the world’s oldest and most reputable cryptocurrency exchanges, in a $200M deal.

The transaction, which was unveiled in June 2024, was finalized on May 2, 2025, and was 100% cash-financed. Bitstamp, headquartered in Luxembourg, has a significant international footprint and a sturdy client base.

This purchase will be a major move in Robinhood’s ambition to expand its exposure in the worldwide crypto market.

Bitstamp has a history of catering to institutional clients. It now serves over 5,000 institutional clients and some 50,000 retail customers. And it gets a lot of trading from its institutional base, a category Robinhood didn’t have until now.

Through its acquisition of Bitstamp, Robinhood will soon have access to a reliable platform with more than a decade of experience, significant liquidity, and a proven security and compliance track record.

Robinhood Crypto general manager Johann Kerbrat said the acquisition would enable the company to scale faster and expand its crypto offerings to more people in the US and globally.

He told CNBC that Robinhood is not ruling out additional crypto acquisitions if they can help accelerate the company’s growth, adding that any opportunity to advance by 18 months or two years would be considered.

The purchase also includes over 50 operational licenses and licenses-to-be in Europe, the UK, Asia, and the US, enabling Robinhood to do business in many new markets legally.

Robinhood pushes into global markets

Robinhood’s crypto business is largely limited in the United States. But Bitstamp is available in Luxembourg, the UK, Slovenia, Singapore, and the US. And just like that, Robinhood gets an immediate foothold across Europe and Asia.

Robinhood said that it has already started to incorporate Bitstamp’s platform. It’s now connected to Robinhood Legend and its Smart Exchange Routing trading system for enhanced trade execution.

Bitstamp reportedly made $95 million in revenue for the 12 months ending April 30, 2025. And that’s just in the first quarter of 2025: Robinhood’s crypto business raked in $252 million.

Robinhood expects to spend an additional $65 million on Bitstamp-related expenses through the remainder of 2025, such as technology integration, marketing, and operations.

Robinhood outlines future strategy and responds to market

The Bitstamp deal isn’t Robinhood’s only move. On May 13, 2025, the company also said it would buy Canadian crypto platform WonderFi for $179 million to become a dominant player in the Canadian market.

These acquisitions are part of a larger strategy to become a global crypto powerhouse — serving individual users and professional and institutional traders.

Robinhood is also looking at the future of tokenization, where real-world assets can be tokenized into tradeable digital tokens.

CEO Vladimir Tenev once called tokenization a “massive unlock” that could enable people to invest in assets like shares of private companies — so long as they’re giants like OpenAI or SpaceX — in minutes.

He thinks this innovation could solve several of the biggest problems in secondary markets, particularly concerning private equity.

On the market side, investors were reacting favorably to the Bitstamp news. Robinhood stock (HOOD) gained 2.77% to settle at $67.98 on Wednesday and added another 0.44% in the after-hours session.

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