Why South Korea's Biggest Game Developer Acquired Crypto Exchange Bitstamp

NXMH, the subsidiary of NXC, the $10 billion parent company of game development firm Nexon, acquired major crypto exchange Bitstamp.

Bitstamp has been approached by buyers quite frequently over the past several years, given its dominance over the European cryptocurrency exchange market and its track record of security, investor protection, and compliance.

Nejc Kodrič, the CEO of Bitstamp, said in an official announcement that the company decided to sell its exchange to NXMH due to the shared vision between the twp companies and the history of the South Korea-controlled investment firm of running a successful exchange.

In late 2017, NXC and NXMH acquired Korbit, South Korea's fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange at a valuation of $300 million.

Throughout the years to come, Kodrič and the rest of the executive team of Bitstamp are expected to remain with the exchange to oversee operations, and business will be run as usual.

In its announcement, Bitstamp suggested that the acquisition of the exchange by NXMH will strengthen Bitstamp's positioning for growth, which could lead to a potential expansion outside of Europe into the Asia market, given the success of Nexon and Korbit in the local cryptocurrency exchange market of South Korea.

Bithumb, the second largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea behind Upbit, attempted to expand into the UK market earlier this year but postponed its plans due to various system and compliance-related issues.

The acquisition of Bitstamp by NXC paves a path towards expansion into Europe, considering the strong banking partners and executive team Bitstamp have established since 2011.

Trading activity across major cryptocurrency exchanges inevitably fell, as the volume in the global cryptocurrency exchange market subsided.

The acquisition of Bitstamp by NXC/NXMH has shown the strengthening of the crypto market in South Korea and the ambition of local conglomerates to solidify their position in the global crypto market.