XRP price is up more than 34% year-to-date to trade around $0.45 as Ripple expands its portfolio in Europe.
Following a series of hostile crypto regulatory frameworks in the United States and a lack of goodwill from the Securities and Exchange Commission (seconds) To stave off enforcement actions, digital asset firms have opted to diversify through Europe or other friendly markets. Already, several centralized exchanges – including Gemini Trust Company LLC and Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN) – has focused on gaining regulatory approval in crypto-friendly markets such as the European Union.
Ripple Gains EU Traction Through Bitstamp
As of Q1 2023, from shareholder transcripts Galaxy Digital Holdings Limited which was released on 9 May, ripple labs acquired a majority stake in Bitstamp, one of the oldest centralized exchanges, for an undisclosed value. Reportedly, Ripple bought Bitstamp stake belonging to Pantera Capital following investment advice from Galaxy Digital.
“On the back of a record year for our investment banking team, and more broadly in our global markets business, we announced in Q1 the sale of our stake in European digital asset exchange Bitstamp to Ripple Labs, a leading blockchain asset management firm. gave advice. ,” Said Galaxy President and Chief Information Officer Chris Ferraro.
Founded in 2011 during the era of Mt.Gox, Bitstamp has grown to serve over 4 million global customers from over 100 different countries. Interestingly, the Luxembourg City-headquartered crypto exchange takes pride in being the first CEX to be regulated in the EU back in 2016.
Over the years, Bitstamp has paid more attention to Ripple’s XRP despite an ongoing lawsuit in the United States. According to market aggregate data from Binance-backed Coinmarketcap, XRP is the second most-traded digital asset on Bitstamp after bitcoin, making up 20 percent of the XRP pair’s total trading volume with the EUR and USD. The exchange also offers other XRP trading pairs including bitcoin and the British pound.
Notably, Pantera Capital was one of Bitstamp’s largest shareholders until 2018 when Belgium-based investment firm NXMH stepped in. According to investment details, Pantera Capital sold its 80 percent stake in Bitstamp to NXMH in an all-cash deal.
Before the crypto bull market of 2017, Bitstamp was valued at around $60 million, up from $39 million in 2014. Valuations have increased significantly since the ongoing mainstream adoption of crypto assets and blockchain technology.
market Outlook
Ripple Labs recently announced that it has spent nearly $200 million to fight the SEC in an ongoing lawsuit. However, the company has threatened to leave the United States market for more welcoming locales such as the Middle East and the European region. Furthermore, XRP liquidity is decreasing in the United States compared to other markets such as Asia and Europe.
Furthermore, XRP trading volume is mostly from non-US crypto exchanges, including Bithumb from South Korea.
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