Description
Bitstamp is a bitcoin exchange based in Luxembourg. It allows trading between fiat currency, bitcoin and other cryptocurrency. It allows USD, EUR, GBP, bitcoin, XRP, ethereum, litecoin, bitcoin cash, XLM, Link, OMG Network, USD Coin or PAX deposits and withdrawals.
The company was founded as a European-focused alternative to then-dominant bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox. While the company 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.
History
The company is headed by CEO Nejc Kodrič, a widely known member of the bitcoin community, who 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. Bitstamp outsourced certain operations to the UK due to the lack of adequate financial and legal services in Slovenia.
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.
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.
In April, 2018, Nexon was rumored to be in talks to purchase Bitstamp.
In October, 2018, Bitstamp has been acquired by NXMH, a Belgium-based investment company.
