Reuters has reported that cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp has been acquired by Belgium-based investment firm NXMH in an “all-cash deal.” Nejc Kodrič,CEO of the Luxembourg-registered exchange, reportedly disclosed that the deal had been settled October 25 , but refused to provide the full terms. The CEO told Reuters that in 2016 Bitstamp was worth $60 million, up from $39 million in 2014.
NXMH, a family run investment holding firm, has over €2 billion worth assets under management. The firm is primarily involved in European consumer and tech investments. According to the LinkedIn profile, the company is centered “on majority buy-outs.” NXMH is a subsidiary of Korea-based media giant NXC Corp., which acquired a 65.19% stake in South Korean crypto exchange Korbit last year.
Reuters reports that Bitstamp and Korbit are operated independently of each other regardless of the contract. NXMH presently has an 80% stake in Bitstamp, with Kodrič preserving his 10% holding and remaining as CEO. NXMH has also supposedly obtained “part” of crypto hedge fund Pantera capital’s $10 million share in the exchange, which was bought in 2014.
Kodrič’s co-founder, Damian Merlak, with whom he founded Bitstamp in 2011, has purportedly sold all of his 30% share in the crypto currency exchange in the NXMH deal. While Merlak has “not been active since 2015,” as per kodrič, the duo supposedly founded the crypto currency exchange “out of a slovenia garage,” with numerous laptops, one server, and a thousand euros in cash.
Kodrič is cited by Reuters as saying that “the sale wasn’t planned. There was no active effort to go around and solicit buyers. The vibrant industry last year sparked potential interest from buyers to make a footprint in the industry. We started to get approached by buyers in the middle of last year.”
The CEO marked that while trading volumes have fallen by 60% to 70% this year, the platform has been making profits due to the fact that cryptocurrencies are on average trading at a higher price compared to 2017.
Bitstamp is presently listed as the 47th largest crypto exchange on CoinMarketcap, with roughly $22 million worth trades in the last 24 hours. It can be remembered that Nexon Korea, a NXC Corp.-owned video game company, denied rumors of a possible acquisition deal with Bitstamp this April.
