Cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp is reportedly about to be sold to South Korean investors for a sum of around $400 mln dollars, according New York Times finance and tech journalist Nathaniel Popper’s tweet from yesterday, March 22. Sources familiar with the matter have also confirmed the information in the tweet to Cointelegraph today, March 23.
Along with all the other news about virtual currency exchanges, I've heard from numerous sources that one of the oldest exchanges, Bitstamp, is in the final stages of being sold to South Korean investors for ~$400m. Neither the exchange nor the buyers are commenting.
— Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) March 22, 2018
The Luxembourg-registered exchange, founded in 2011, is currently ranked number 11 in terms of 24 hour exchange volume on CoinMarketCap, trading a total of around $182.4 mln over a 24 hour period to press time.
Some Twitter commentators have seen the potential Bitstamp sale as a bad thing, citing a lack of familiarity with South Korean law in regards to crypto regulations as an impetus to stop using the exchange:
@Bitstamp @SupportBitstamp - is this true that you are selling you company to Korea? If so I would need to take my business else where unfortunately!
— Nikita Vdovin (@NikitaVdovin) March 22, 2018
On the other hand, Twitter users have pointed out that a change in the ownership of Bitstamp does not necessarily mean changes for the company:
Ownership doesn’t change it is an European company licensed in Luxembourg... like... nothing changes just the owner or the stock unless they decide afterwards to ditch their European offices, license, banking relationships, and do a 180 at which point... why buy it?
— BitJohny (@bit_johny) March 23, 2018
South Korea’s cryptocurrency regulatory decisions have made the news several times this year, from false rumors of a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies around the new year leading to media FUD, to a raid on three Seoul-based crypto exchanges in February after customers’ funds were found to have been moved into the accounts of the exchange managers.