Luxembourg based cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp has been reportedly acquired by NXMH, a Belgian investment company. NXMH, based out of Brussels, has bought an 80 percent ownership stake in Bitstamp, which one of the oldest and biggest bitcoin exchanges. Terms regarding the deal were not disclosed by the firms.
Apparently, the crypto exchange was seeking about $400 million and was in final stages of signing an agreement with a South Korean investment firm earlier this year. Co-Founder and CEO of Bitstamp, Nejc Kodrič, revealed in a statement that the company had four interested suitors, but it chose NXMH since it was ready to allow the crypto exchange to keep operating as an independent body.
Kodrič mentioned that Bitstamp and Korbit, a Korean crypto exchange owned by NXMH’s parent company NXC, were in talks to merge both the exchange but concluded on operating separately. Neither the 180 employees of the company nor the traders on the platform would notice any significant changes.
Kodrič added that the dynamic crypto industry sparked potential interest recently from buyers to enter this industry. In the middle of last year, the platform started getting approached by buyers, but it was not looking to sell. The platform was not looking for investments as it did not need to raise funds.
Kodrič stated that he holds a 10 percent of ownership stake in Bitstamp and showed confidence that this alliance with NXMH would assist the exchange in expanding its operations. The exchange was very much positioned with where it saw the industry going and what it wanted to be. NXMH is ready to assist the company all the way with its global expansion, Kodrič mentioned.
Separately, Pantera Capital, a blockchain investment fund that had invested about $10 million in Bitstamp in 2014, also sold some of its stake to NXMH and still holds an interest in the exchange.
