US tech giant Robinhood has agreed a deal to buy London-based cryptocurrency app Ziglu.
The retail brokerage, which shelved plans to launch in the UK two years ago in order to prioritise expansion in its home market, is now targeting growth in the UK and Europe with the acquisition for an undisclosed sum.
Ziglu allows users to buy and sell 11 cryptocurrencies, earn interest on their holdings and pay using a debit card. Its CEO Mark Hipperson was previously a co-founder and CTO at digital bank Starling.
Founded in 2018, it has raised a total of £17.5 million, including £13.4m via equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs. It was valued at £85m by its last round of funding while its customer base grew four-fold last year.
Nasdaq-listed Robinhood, which saw shares climb more than 5% when the deal was announced, allows users to trade stocks, funds and cryptocurrencies via its app.
It has suffered since the GameStop trading controversy last year and reported a drop in monthly active users in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 17.3m, with expected Q1 2022 revenue of less than $340m, down 35% from 2021.
“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,” Vlad Tenev, Robinhood CEO and co-founder, wrote in a blog post.
Hipperson said: “As part of Robinhood, we’ll supercharge Robinhood’s expansion across Europe and bring better access to crypto and its benefits to millions more customers.”