Bitstamp

0 standards supported

Key details

Launch: 2011

Overview

Bitstamp is one of the world's longest-running cryptocurrency exchanges + a Luxembourg/EU-licensed spot trading venue now owned by Robinhood [1, 2, gb-cro]. Founded in 2011, it predates most of today's major exchanges and built a reputation as a compliance-first venue serving both retail and institutional clients across Europe, the UK, the US and Asia.

History

2011 — Bitstamp founded in Ljubljana, Slovenia by Nejc Kodrič and Damijan Merlak as a European alternative to Mt. Gox. 2013 — relocates operations to the UK, scaling into one of the largest BTC/USD and BTC/EUR venues. 2016 — obtains a Luxembourg payment institution licence, becoming one of the first fully regulated crypto exchanges in the EU. 2018 — acquired by Belgium-based investment firm NXMH (a subsidiary of NXC). 2023 — majority stake acquired by Galaxy Digital-linked / institutional investors as it expanded institutional services. June 2025 — acquired by Robinhood Markets for ~$200M, becoming Robinhood's institutional and EU crypto backbone.

Ownership & operator

Operating entity: Bitstamp Ltd (UK / Luxembourg). Major shareholders: Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD) following the 2025 acquisition. Regulators: Luxembourg CSSF, UK FCA (registration), EU MiCA framework, and US state money transmitter licences.

Technical integration

Web and mobile apps plus a professional REST/WebSocket API. Supports major assets across Bitcoin, Ethereum and other chains, with crypto deposit/withdrawal addresses, fiat on/off-ramps (SEPA, wire, card) and institutional custody and trading services.

Implementations & partners

Major competitors: [[kraken]] (global spot exchange) + [[coinbase]] (US-listed exchange) + [[bitpanda]] (EU retail broker).

Status

Active, now operating as Robinhood's EU/institutional crypto exchange backbone [1, 2].

Sources

1 Bitstamp — official
2 Bitstamp — Wikipedia
gb-cro In-corpus: reports/countries/GB-united-kingdom.md

Source

Biography extracted from bitstamp.md. See matrix.md for standards-support matrix if present.