Bitstamp, one of the oldest and largest bitcoin exchanges, has been acquired by Belgian investment company NXMH.
Fortune reports that the Brussels-based NXMH purchased an 80 % ownership stake within the Luxembourg-based cryptocurrency exchange, that launched in 2011, shortly once the first “bitcoin bubble” drove the bitcoin value up as high as $31 and so back down to $2.
Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but, earlier this year, rumors had circulated that the cryptocurrency exchange — that was launched out of a garage in Slovenia with simply 1,000 euros in capital — was seeking as much as $400 million and was within the final stages of inking an agreement with a South Korean investment company.
While NXMH is headquartered in Belgium, not South Korea, it's a subsidiary of NXC, the South Korean technology investment company that also owns regional cryptocurrency exchange giant Korbit. In April, NXC denied reports that the firm had nonheritable Bitstamp for $350 million.
Bitstamp co-founder and CEO Nejc Kodrič told Reuters that the exchange had four interested suitors but chose NXMH since it was willing to allow the bitcoin exchange — one of the biggest in the European Union — to continue operating as an independent entity. He said that the firm and Korbit “talked about” merging but determined to stay separate. Consequently, he said that neither traders nor the company’s 180 staff should notice any significant changes.
“The spirited industry last year sparked potential interest from consumers to create a footprint in the industry. We began to get approached by consumers in the middle of last year,” he said. “We weren't trying to sell,” he added throughout an interview with Fortune. “We were undoubtedly not searching for investment because we didn’t have to raise the capital.”
Kodrič, who said that he retains a 10% ownership stake within the exchange, further expressed confidence that orienting with NXMH will aid Bitstamp as it seeks to expand its operations.
“We were greatly aligned—where we see the business going and what the company desires to be,” he said. “They’re willing to assist us along the way, and help us with our global expansion.”
Cryptocurrency hedge fund Pantera Capital, that invested with $10 million in Bitstamp in 2014, also sold a little of its stake to NXMH but retained some interest in the exchange.
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