Blockchain-based digital payment network Ripple has acquired a minority stake in cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp in the first quarter of 2023. Digital investment firm Galaxy Digital advised on the deal, according to minutes of a May 9 Galaxy shareholder call.
Ripple has acquired a previously held stake in US digital asset investment firm Pantera Capital. Pantera was one of Bitstamp's largest shareholders until 2018, when the exchange was acquired by Belgian investment firm NXMH in an "all-cash deal." At the time, the The company was valued at $60 million.
Pantera, which invested $10 million in the company in 2014, also sold some of its stake in Bitstamp to NXMH. "More broadly, within our Global Markets business, we recommend that Pantera, a leading blockchain asset manager, move its European digital asset stake in exchange Bitstamp sold to Ripple Labs,” said Galaxy President and CIO Chris Ferraro. It is unclear how much Ripple paid for the acquisition or how the deal was structured. Cointelegraph reached out to Ripple but did not immediately hear back.
Founded in 2011, Bitstamp was one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges to offer trading in digital assets. From its base in Luxembourg, the company serves clients in more than 100 countries. According to CoinMarketCap, Bitstamp is currently ranked among the top 10 cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume, with more than $164 million worth of tokens traded in the past 24 hours.
The connection between Ripple and Bitstamp goes back several years. The exchange was previously a gateway for Ripple's XRP token. It's no coincidence that XRP pairs rank second and third in trading volume on Bitstamp after Bitcoin. Bitstamp is also the se cond largest XRP marketplace after cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Since 2020, Ripple has been embroiled in a costly lawsuit with the SEC over whether XRP qualifies as a security. In the latest development in the case, a motion by US securities regulators to seal records of internal deliberations was denied. The m the ove is seen as a victory for Ripple, which considers some of the SEC's internal speeches as key evidence in its ongoing lawsuit.
