Ziglu buying Damex retail crypto clients, to add stock trading

Sky News is reporting that London based crypto and fiat trading service Ziglu has struck a deal to acquire the retail operations of Gibraltar/Spain based crypto payments company Damex.

Ziglu – which at one point in 2022 had agreed to be acquired by Robinhood for $170 million, before the deal fell apart in early 2023 after crypto prices plummeted – is expected to announce the Damex acquisition in the coming days.

Quoting a source, Sky News said that the combined company would have close to 200,000 customers, and is said to be planning to offer UK and US stock trading to European-based customers in the coming months.

Adding shares trading – whether “real” shares or via CFDs – would require Ziglu to add an additional license. Ziglu is now authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for the issue of electronic money and the provision of related payment services. Ziglu is also registered as a cryptoasset firm with the FCA for anti-money laundering supervision.

Adding shares trading in the UK would require a “full” FCA brokerage license, while similarly offering shares/CFDs trading to EU clients would require separate licensing from one of the EU’s national regulators.