Ripple buys Pantera's Bitstamp stake
Bitstamp and Ripple have been together for a long time. The exchange formerly served as a gateway for Ripple's XRP token.
In the first quarter of 2023, the blockchain-based digital payment network Ripple acquired a small interest in the cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp. According to a transcript of the conference call for Galaxy shareholders on May 9, digital investment business Galaxy Digital provided advice on the transaction.
Pantera Capital, a US-based company that invests in digital assets, sold some of its shares to Ripple. Up until 2018, when Belgian investment group NXMH purchased Bitstamp in an "all-cash deal," Pantera was one of the exchange's top owners. The firm was worth $60 million at the time.
Pantera's ownership in Bitstamp is acquired by Ripple
Ripple, a blockchain-based digital payment network, bought a tiny stake in Bitstamp, a cryptocurrency exchange, in the first quarter of 2023. A transcript of the conference call for Galaxy shareholders on May 9 shows that Galaxy Digital, a digital investment company, advised on the deal.
A US-based firm that invests in digital assets, Pantera Capital, sold part of its shares to Ripple. Pantera was one of the exchange's major shareholders up until 2018, when Belgian investment company NXMH acquired Bitstamp in a "all-cash deal." At the time, the company was valued $60 million.
Pantera, which invested $10 million in the business in 2014, also sold a portion of its ownership in Bitstamp to NXMH.
"More broadly in our global markets business, on the back of a record year for our investment banking team, we advised Pantera, leading blockchain asset management firm, on sale of its stake in European digital asset exchange Bitstamp to Ripple Labs in Q1," said Chris Ferraro, president and chief information officer of Galaxy.
Ripple's purchase price and the specifics of the agreement are unknown.
One of the earliest cryptocurrency exchanges to provide transactions for digital assets was Bitstamp, founded in 2011. With a headquarters in Luxembourg, the business serves customers in more than 100 nations. With nearly $164 million worth of tokens moved on the previous day, Bitstamp is presently among the top 10 cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume, according to CoinMarketCap.
Ripple and Bitstamp have been connected for many years. Previously, the exchange acted as a conduit for Ripple's XRP coin. The fact that XRP pairings are the second and third most traded on Bitstamp, just behind Bitcoin, is not a coincidence. In terms of market size, Bitstamp is second only to cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
Since 2020, Ripple has been embroiled in a pricey legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission about whether XRP satisfies the criteria for being considered securities. The American securities regulator's request to seal the documents of internal discussions was denied in the most recent case development. The decision was seen as a victory for Ripple, which considers some internal SEC remarks to be crucial evidence in its continuing case.
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