{{Short description|Bitcoin exchange based in the UK}} {{Infobox exchange |name = Bitstamp |logo = Bitstamp logo (2024) (cropped).png |logo_size = 200px |type = Cryptocurrency Exchange |city = Luxembourg City |country = Luxembourg |coor = |foundation = {{start date and age|2011}} |key_people = Jean-Baptiste Graftieaux (CEO)<br>Nejc Kodrič (co-founder)<br>Damian Merlak (co-founder) |owner = Robinhood |listings = |mcap = |volume = |indexes = |homepage = {{URL|https://www.bitstamp.net/}} |footnotes =}} thumb|Bitstamp logo (2013–2017)|150px '''Bitstamp''' is a Luxembourg-based cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2011. Considered the world’s longest-running cryptocurrency exchange, its business operations are conducted from its registered headquarters in Luxembourg City, with a satellite office in Ljubljana.
It allows trading between fiat currency, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, such as the U.S. dollar, the euro, the pound sterling, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Algorand, Stellar, and USD Coin.
== History == Bitstamp was founded as a European-focused alternative to then-dominant bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox.<ref name=hill2014>{{cite news|last1=Hill|first1=Kashmir|title=The Bitcoin Economy's 'Backbone' Is Bitstamp, An Exchange Run By Two Young Slovenians|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/06/26/bitcoin-bitstamp/|access-date=January 5, 2017|work=Forbes|date=June 26, 2014|archive-date=January 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106010923/http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/06/26/bitcoin-bitstamp/|url-status=live}}</ref> While the firm trades in US dollars, it accepts fiat money deposits for free only via the European Union's Single Euro Payments Area, a mechanism for transferring money between European bank accounts.<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Nate Drake |date=November 7, 2017 |title=How to purchase Bitcoins with Bitstamp |url=https://www.techradar.com/how-to/how-to-buy-bitcoins-with-bitstamp |access-date=May 4, 2025 |website=TechRadar |language=en}}</ref>
Nejc Kodrič, a widely known member of the bitcoin community, co-founded the company in August 2011 with Damijan Merlak in his native Slovenia, but later moved its registration to the UK in April 2013, then to Luxembourg in 2016.<ref group="nb" name="location">The firm is registered in Reading in the UK, but this is in fact just the offices of UK PLC, a company specialising in company formation and which, amongst its services, allows companies to use its own address as their registered office, effectively acting as a forwarding address. There is no clear information available as to where Bitstamp's operations are located or whether they actually have any presence at all in the UK, or are still run out of Slovenia.</ref> Bitstamp outsourced certain operations to the UK due to the lack of adequate financial and legal services in Slovenia.<ref name=hill2014/> It was backed by the United States hedge fund Pantera Capital.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sherif |first=Mostafa Hashem |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5xNjDAAAQBAJ&dq=bitstamp+verify+identity+2013&pg=PA369 |title=Protocols for Secure Electronic Commerce |date=December 19, 2017 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-4822-0377-6 |pages=369 |language=en}}</ref>
When incorporating in the United Kingdom, the company approached the UK's Financial Conduct Authority for guidance, but was told that bitcoin was not classed as a currency, so the exchange was not subject to regulation. Bitstamp says that it instead regulates itself, following a set of best practices to authenticate customers and deter money laundering.
In September 2013, the company began requiring account holders to verify their identity with copies of their passports and official records of their home address.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 17, 2014 |title=Bitstamp issues final notice for users to verify accounts |url=https://siliconangle.com/2014/10/17/bitstamp-issues-final-notice-for-users-to-verify-accounts/ |access-date=May 4, 2025 |website=SiliconANGLE |language=en-US}}</ref>
In April 2016, the Luxembourgish government granted a license to Bitstamp to be fully regulated in the EU as a payment institution, allowing it to do business in all 28 EU member states.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Metz|first1=Cade|title=A Bitcoin Exchange Just Got Approval to Operate Across the EU|url=https://www.wired.com/2016/04/bitcoin-exchange-receives-approval-operate-across-eu/|access-date=January 5, 2017|magazine=Wired|date=April 25, 2016|archive-date=January 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105181001/https://www.wired.com/2016/04/bitcoin-exchange-receives-approval-operate-across-eu/|url-status=live}}</ref> In August 2017, Bitstamp added trading of Ether to the company’s platform.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 17, 2017 |title=Bitstamp Launches Ether Trading |url=https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/bitstamp-launches-ether-trading-080100961.html |access-date=March 19, 2024 |website=uk.movies.yahoo.com |language=en-GB |archive-date=March 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319204812/https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/bitstamp-launches-ether-trading-080100961.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
In October 2018, a Belgian investment company acquired Bitstamp in an all cash deal.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chavez-Dreyfuss |first=Gertrude |date=October 29, 2018 |title=European investment firm buys digital exchange Bitstamp in all cash deal |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN1N314I/ |access-date=March 12, 2024 |website=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bitcoin Exchange Bitstamp Acquired in Latest Cryptocurrency Deal |url=https://fortune.com/crypto/2018/10/29/bitcoin-exchange-bitstamp-acquired/ |access-date=March 12, 2024 |website=Fortune Crypto |language=en}}</ref> In September 2023, three months after Ripple purchased a stake from the firm for an undisclosed amount,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fathi |first=abdelaziz |date=May 26, 2023 |title=Ripple secretly acquires stake in Bitstamp |url=https://financefeeds.com/ripple-secretly-acquires-stake-in-bitstamp/ |access-date=March 12, 2024 |website=FinanceFeeds |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=May 25, 2023 |title=Ripple Acquires Undisclosed Stake in Crypto Exchange Bitstamp |url=https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/ripple-acquires-undisclosed-stake-in-crypto-exchange-bitstamp/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=Financial and Business News {{!}} Finance Magnates |language=en |archive-date=March 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318155451/https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/ripple-acquires-undisclosed-stake-in-crypto-exchange-bitstamp/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Bitstamp temporarily suspended the Ethereum staking service due to regulatory concerns.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 24, 2023 |title=Bitstamp Pulls the Plug on ETH Staking for US Clients |url=https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/bitstamp-pulls-the-plug-on-eth-staking-for-us-clients-amid-regulatory-scrutiny/ |access-date=June 6, 2024 |website=Financial and Business News {{!}} Finance Magnates |language=en}}</ref>
In 2024, Robinhood Markets announced that it had moved to acquire the firm for $200 million.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Saini |first=Manya |date=June 6, 2024 |title=Robinhood bets big on crypto with $200 million deal for Bitstamp |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/robinhood-bets-big-crypto-with-200-million-deal-bitstamp-2024-06-06/ |work=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 6, 2024 |title=Robinhood bets big on crypto with $200 million deal for Bitstamp |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/06/robinhood-200-million-deal-for-bitstamp.html |access-date=June 6, 2024 |website=CNBC |language=en}}</ref> In June 2025, it was reported that the purchase had been completed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.bitstamp.net/post/robinhood-completes-acquisition-of-bitstamp/|title=Robinhood Completes Acquisition of Bitstamp|work=Bitstamp Blog|access-date=September 12, 2025|language=en}}</ref>
== Service disruptions == In February 2014, the company suspended withdrawals for several days in the face of a distributed denial-of-service.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kharif|first1=Olga|title=Bitcoin Exchange Bitstamp Halts Customer Withdrawals|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-02-11/bitcoin-exchange-bitstamp-halts-withdrawals|access-date=January 5, 2017|work=Bloomberg|date=February 12, 2014|archive-date=January 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105180616/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-02-11/bitcoin-exchange-bitstamp-halts-withdrawals|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Pagliery|first1=Jose|title=Another Bitcoin exchange goes down|url=https://money.cnn.com/2014/02/11/technology/bitcoin-bitstamp/|access-date=January 5, 2017|work=CNN|date=February 12, 2014|archive-date=January 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106010512/http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/11/technology/bitcoin-bitstamp/|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''Bitcoin Magazine'' reported that people behind the attack sent a ransom demand of 75 bitcoins to Kodrič, who refused due to a company policy against negotiating with “terrorists”.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pagliery |first=Jose |date=February 11, 2014 |title=Bitstamp, another Bitcoin exchange, goes down and halts withdrawals |url=https://money.cnn.com/2014/02/11/technology/bitcoin-bitstamp/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302151538/http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/11/technology/bitcoin-bitstamp/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 2, 2014 |access-date=February 17, 2025 |website=CNNMoney}}</ref>
In January 2015, Bitstamp suspended its service after a hack during which less than 19,000 bitcoins were stolen,<ref>{{cite web|author1=Zack Whittaker|title=Bitstamp exchange hacked, $5M worth of bitcoin stolen|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/bitstamp-bitcoin-exchange-suspended-amid-hack-concerns-heres-what-we-know/|website=Zdnet|publisher=CBS Interactive.|access-date=January 6, 2015|date=January 5, 2015|archive-date=October 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161016122825/http://www.zdnet.com/article/bitstamp-bitcoin-exchange-suspended-amid-hack-concerns-heres-what-we-know/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hackers steal $5 million from major bitcoin exchange |url=https://fortune.com/2015/01/05/bitstamp-bitcoin-freeze-hack/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |website=Fortune |language=en |archive-date=March 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318155451/https://fortune.com/2015/01/05/bitstamp-bitcoin-freeze-hack/ |url-status=live }}</ref> reopening nearly a week later.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ember|first1=Sydney|title=Bitcoin Exchange Bitstamp Resumes Services|url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/bitcoin-exchange-bitstamp-resumes-services/|access-date=January 5, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=January 9, 2015|archive-date=August 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824181121/https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/bitcoin-exchange-bitstamp-resumes-services/|url-status=live}}</ref>
== Compliance == In September 2018 the New York Attorney General office produced a 42-page "Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative Report", after requesting fourteen virtual currency exchanges to participate in a survey. The report aimed to create greater transparency regarding security, anti-hacking measures and business practices. Bitstamp was among ten platforms that responded; it is noted that of these ten, Bitstamp was among the seven that confirmed that they had sought approval, directly or through a subsidiary, from the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) to operate a virtual currency business in New York State. The report goes on to say that such approval implies an agreement to actively protect deposited funds, prevent money laundering and illegal activity, and respond to other risks. Bitstamp was one of two exchanges that claimed to block access to their exchange by VPNs. In addition to providing fee policies, Bitstamp also claimed to conduct audits of their virtual currency holdings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/vmii_report.pdf|title=Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative Report|language=en|access-date=September 18, 2018|archive-date=September 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918184616/https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/vmii_report.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
== Notes == {{Reflist|group=nb}}
== References == {{reflist}} {{Cryptocurrency exchanges}} Category:Bitcoin exchanges Category:Privately held companies of the United Kingdom Category:Financial services companies established in 2011 Category:Bitcoin Category:Cryptocurrency theft Category:Bitcoin companies Category:Cryptocurrency exchanges Category:2011 establishments in Slovenia Category:2013 establishments in the United Kingdom Category:2025 mergers and acquisitions