Robinhood Markets Inc.’s general manager of cryptocurrency says the firm will benefit from its acquisition of WonderFi Technologies Inc. by gaining control of its assets under custody along with its investment dealer license.
The acquisition of WonderFi Technologies, an operator of two Canadian crypto platforms, was announced on Tuesday in a deal worth about $250 million, Bloomberg News reported. The companies said that Robinhood will be able to spur greater access for crypto trading in the Canadian market following its acquisition.
“WonderFi operates two of the longest running crypto marketplaces here in Canada, and they also are a member of CIRO (Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization) and they have an investment dealer license which is really important for us,” Johann Kerbrat, who is also an SVP at Robinhood, said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg Thursday.
“We want to make sure that we offer product compliance with the regulation. And we are really excited to see that with their $2.1 billion of asset under custody, it will be for us a great way to bring the Robinhood mission into the market.”
He added that WonderFi is a platform that allows users to buy and sell around 60 different assets. Kerbrat highlighted that Robinhood is one of the largest U.S. retail marketplaces for crypto trading where the “past two quarters have been really good for the crypto products and business of Robinhood.”
Through the announced acquisition, Robinhood will purchase all of WonderFi’s issued and outstanding common shares at a price of 36 cents per share, 41 per cent higher than the company’s closing price on Monday. The deal is expected to be completed during the second half of the year.
According to Kerbrat, around 19 million Canadians are expected to use crypto in 2025.
“We do believe the Canadian market is really exciting. And that is why this acquisition is a way for us to bring our mission here in Canada,” Kerbrat said.
