Robinhood said Tuesday it has agreed to buy Ziglu, a London-based fintech app that allows users to trade bitcoin and several other cryptocurrencies. The acquisition will help in its expansion plans in the UK and Europe, the company said.
The announcement comes nearly two years after Robinhood halted plans to launch in the UK At the time, the company said it was prioritizing its business at home over international expansion.
“Together with the Ziglu team, we’ll work to leverage the best of both companies, exploring new ways to innovate and break down barriers for customers across the UK and Europe,” Robinhood Chief Executive Officer Vlad Tenev said in a statement announcing the acquisition. Shares of Robinhood climbed more than 5% Tuesday following the announcement of the expansion to the UK market.
The deal could provide a crucial boost to growth prospects for Robinhood, whose performance has weakened since the GameStop trading frenzy last year, when members of message board website Reddit began buying up GameStop stock, pushing it from around $17 a share at the start of January to north of $330 by that month’s end. Robinhood came to prominence as one of the most popular platforms used by these traders, boosting the company as well.
Robinhood reported a drop in monthly active users in the fourth quarter of 2021 — to 17.3 million from 18.9 million in the previous quarter — and said it expects first-quarter 2022 revenue of less than $340 million, down 35% from the year-earlier period. The company has lost roughly two-thirds of its market value since debuting on the Nasdaq last summer.
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