The European Union’s largest cryptocurrency and digital asset exchange, Bitstamp, has been acquired by Belgium-based investment firm NXMH.
The acquisition is the second exchange to be purchased by NXMH’s South Korean parent company NXC.
A Suitable Suitor
According to Reuters, the deal was signed last Thursday, October 25, for an undisclosed amount. It was apparently made “all in cash.”
SponsoredThe purchase was made by NXMH, a subsidiary of South Korean technology and gaming investment giant NXC, formerly Nexon Holdings.
Bitstamp will be the second exchange to be purchased by the NXC firm, after acquiring Korea’s second largest exchange Korbit last year — a deal reported by TechCrunch to have been worth $120 million. The two exchanges will continue to operate as separate entities, however, and have not released any plans to merge thus far.
Exchange Information
According to CoinMarketCap, Bitstamp is currently the 29th largest exchange based on adjusted volume, trading more than $58 million in the past 24 hours.
Bitstamp launched in 2011 and currently trades in Bitcoin (BTC), Ripple (XRP), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), with nearly 80 percent of the volume transacted in BTC and XRP.
The exchange was in the news in early 2015, after nearly 19,000 BTC was stolen as the result of a phishing attack on Bitstamp staff, as reported by TechCrunch. That amount today is worth more than $117 million and has stood as one out of many shining examples of how far exchange security has come in 2018, and how much further it still has to go in 2019 and beyond.
What do you think about Bitstamp being acquired by NXMH? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! While you’re at it, check out our honest review of Bitstamp!
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