Ripple Effect Incoming? Ripple Buys Pantera Capital's Bitstamp Stake

By April 2023, Ripple XRP/USD, a blockchain-based network that facilitates digital payments, acquired a minority stake in the cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp. The deal was facilitated by digital investment firm Galaxy Digital, as revealed in a transcript of their shareholder conference call on May 9.

Ripple purchased shares previously owned by Pantera Capital, a prominent digital asset investment firm based in the US. Pantera was one of the major shareholders of Bitstamp until 2018 when the exchange was acquired by Belgium-based investment firm NXMH in a cash transaction, valuing Bitstamp at $60 million.

Pantera also sold a piece of its ownership to NXMH after making a $10 million investment in Bitstamp back in 2014. According to Chris Ferraro, president and chief information officer of Galaxy Digital, Pantera's interest in Bitstamp was sold to Ripple Labs as part of the company's advising services for its global markets business.

Furthermore, Bitstamp has been crucial in supporting Ripple's introduction into RippleNet by acting as a gateway. 30% of Bitstamp's trading volume is made up of XRP, the native cryptocurrency of Ripple, with the XRP/Euro pair being the most popular. Following Binance, Bitstamp is presently the second-largest market for XRP. There aren't any public statements about this acquisition yet from either party.