Robinhood Begins European Expansion, Acquiring Regulated UK-Based Crypto Firm Ziglu

Nasdaq-listed trading platform Robinhood is acquiring Ziglu, a London-based e-money and crypto-asset company. The acquisition is part of Robinhood’s international expansion plan. Robinhood “sees great opportunities in serving customers around the world.”

Robinhood acquires regulated cryptocurrency firm Ziglu

Popular U.S. trading platform Robinhood announced Tuesday that it has signed an agreement to acquire regulated cryptocurrency firm Ziglu.

Citing its mission to “democratize finance for all,” Robinhood emphasized: “That’s why we announced earlier this year that we set aggressive goals to start opening our crypto platform to customers internationally.” The Nasdaq-listed trading platform added:

As we expand internationally, we are pleased to announce that we have signed an agreement to acquire Ziglu Limited, a UK-based electronic money and crypto-asset company.

The deal is “subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions,” Robinhood noted.

Founded in 2014, Ziglu allows UK retail investors to buy and sell 11 cryptocurrencies. Users can also earn returns with Ziglu “Boost” products, pay with a debit card, and transfer and spend money around the world without fees, according to the statement. The U.K.-based cryptocurrency company is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The group was valued at £85 million last November, when it raised £7 million.

Ziglu CEO Mark Hipperson said the two companies “share common goals,” specifying:

By becoming part of Robinhood, we will accelerate Robinhood’s expansion in Europe and provide better access to cryptocurrencies and their benefits for millions of customers.”

The announcement adds that nothing will change in the short term for current Ziglu customers. In the long term, however, Robinhood will fully integrate Ziglu to “take the Robinhood brand overseas” as the company works to “expand operations beyond the UK into Europe.”

Robinhood announced its plan to go international in January, saying it “believes in the enormous potential of the crypto economy and sees great opportunities in serving customers around the world.”

Steve Quirk, Robinhood’s chief broker, explained in February that his company’s global expansion would be “primarily cryptocurrency.” He believes that from a regulatory perspective, the way for Robinhood “to go global and get the most exposure is probably going to be through cryptocurrency, and then maybe other components of the offering will follow.”

Robinhood recently rolled out its cryptocurrency wallets to more than two million customers. This month, the platform also added support for four more cryptocurrencies, including the cryptocurrency meme Shiba Inu. SHIB is now supported by the platform along with bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), bitcoin sv (BSV), dogecoin (DOGE), ethereum (ETH), ethereum classic (ETC), litecoin (LTC), compound (COMP), polygon (MATIC) and solana (SOL).

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