After Shiba Inu Listing, Robinhood Acquires UK Crypto Platform Ziglu to ‘Rev Up Expansion Plans’

Robinhood, a popular stock and crypto trading app, has agreed to purchase London-headquartered crypto firm Ziglu. The acquisition comes as Robinhood dips its toes further into the crypto waters amid growing interest.

Robinhood Buys UK-Regulated Crypto Firm

Robinhood emerged as a go-to avenue for US investors since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020. However, Robinhood has been trying to launch in the UK as part of its global expansion endeavors to no avail. The Menlo Park, California-based firm paused the roll-out of its fee-free stock-trading app in the UK indefinitely back in 2020 following pressure from U.S. lawmakers.

By buying Ziglu, Robinhood appears to be making another attempt at expanding beyond the United States. “Ziglu’s impressive team of deeply experienced financial services and crypto experts will help us accelerate our global expansion efforts,” Robinhood co-founder and CEO Vladimir Tenev remarked in a Tuesday blog post. 

Pending regulatory approval, the financial terms of the agreement have not been revealed. Nevertheless, with this acquisition, Robinhood is now the proud owner of one of the few cryptocurrency companies authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to operate in the United Kingdom.

Ziglu was awarded the UK electronic money license in 2020. The crypto fintech allows the trading of 11 crypto assets and also offers yield on the crypto deposits of their UK customers.

Purchase To Give Robinhood Foothold In Crypto Industry

After changing how investors trade stocks, Robinhood has been eyeing expanding into the rest of the financial industry. Evidently, crypto is one of the sectors the firm has sights on.

Just last week, Robinhood added support for several cryptocurrencies, including the market’s second-largest meme coin Shiba Inu (SHIB).

During the Bitcoin 2022 Miami conference, Robinhood shared plans to add the Lightning Network to its platform to facilitate faster BTC transactions. The firm also has a waitlist of 2 million users that want access to the platform’s crypto deposit and withdrawal feature.

As for Ziglu, Robinhood intends to integrate it fully in the long-term as it continues its expansion beyond the UK into Europe. Suffice to say, a Ziglu purchase could give Robinhood a foothold in the crypto industry, giving it the ability to quickly expand its reach in this burgeoning industry.