Bitstamp to Partner with Major European Banks

In a recent interview on October 9th, a top executive at Bitstamp, Robert Zagotta, disclosed the exchange's plans to collaborate with three prominent European banks. These partnerships are centered around Bitstamp's innovative "Bitstamp-as-a-service" feature, a white-label service that enables banks and other companies to offer cryptocurrency buying and services via Bitstamp's established trading platform. Zagotta elaborated on this development, stating, "In the last six to nine months, we've had quite an increase in inbound inquiries about this offering from large European banks... We are in advanced conversations with three such banks, household name banks in Europe." While Zagotta did not divulge the names of these partnering banks, he indicated that Bitstamp intends to make an official announcement about these collaborations in the first quarter of 2024. Additionally, Zagotta highlighted Bitstamp's focus on regulatory compliance, emphasizing the exchange's ability to operate within global regulations. Bitstamp's possession of a New York BitLicense, despite the increasingly strict crypto regulations in the United States, demonstrates its commitment to regulatory compliance. Zagotta also touched upon the collapse of FTX, a competing cryptocurrency exchange, noting that this event has drawn corporate investors to Bitstamp. As a result, Bitstamp saw a 36% increase in corporate customers during the first and second quarters of 2023 compared to the last two quarters of 2022. While Zagotta presented Bitstamp's compliance efforts in a positive light, he did not mention certain regulatory adjustments that led the exchange to reduce its services. Bitstamp has ceased offering Ethereum staking and delisted seven tokens in the U.S., likely in response to regulatory actions taken against other prominent exchanges like Coinbase and Binance. Bitstamp, classified as a moderately large cryptocurrency exchange, continues to be a significant player in the industry. As of October 9th, CoinGecko reported a normalized 24-hour trading volume of $79 million for the platform. Bitstamp's strategic partnerships with major European banks reaffirm its commitment to expanding cryptocurrency services and bridging the gap between traditional finance and the crypto world.