Robinhood has diminished its acquisition offer for UK-based crypto exchange Ziglu , slashing the price tag from USD 170 million to USD 72. 5 million, 60% less than the original offer.

The purchase was part of Robinhood’s plan to scale its digital assets presence in international markets. The initial deal was struck in April 2022, when Robinhood signed an agreement to acquire the company. At that time Robinhood said that Ziglu’s team of experienced financial services and crypto experts will help accelerate their global expansion efforts.

With Ziglu, UK-based customers can buy and sell eleven cryptocurrencies, earn yield via its ‘Boost’ products, pay using a debit card, and spend money even abroad, without fees, as the company noted then. Although US-based Robinhood may now be able to expand its operations in the region at a lower cost, crowdfunding investors who had purchased shares on Seedrs, a UK-based equity crowdfunding platform, have lost out on the move. Ziglu had previously crowdfunded for its application on Seedrs in 2020 and in 2021, raising an estimated USD 15 million at share prices of GBP 34 and GBP 48.

30, respectively. Its latest amended Robhinhood acquisition pegged Ziglu shares at GBP 28. 29— equating to a 41% loss for early investors.

Ziglu CEO Mark Hipperson justified the downgrade on Seedrs, citing the crypto winter triggered by the downfall of Celsuis, BlockFi, and Voyager, and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Hipperson told investors Ziglu’s pondered the revised offer and considered other funding sources and cost-cutting measures but decided that moving the deal forward was the ‘best and only reasonable path forward for the company. ’ As the CEO put it, a termination would have left Ziglu in a challenging market and undercapitalised for the period ahead.

The crypto downturn While the crypto winter helped Robinhood in acquiring Ziglu, it left a mark on companies relying on blockchain around the world. One of the biggest players in the industry, Binance, had to block Bitcoin withdrawals in June amid the market downturn. The issue was temporary, and it was caused by a backlog in the company’s system when the coin was depreciating, with many users attempting to make withdrawals.

Other exchanges were not that lucky, however, with situations like Singapore's crypto exchange Zipmex having to file for bankruptcy. The company resumed withdrawals a day after suspending them on 20 July, and at the time said it was working to address its exposure of USD 53 million to crypto lenders Babel Finance and Celsius. Nonetheless, Zipmex's solicitors submitted five applications on 22 July seeking moratoriums to prohibit legal proceedings against Zipmex for up to six months.

Under Singapore law, such a filing grants companies an automatic moratorium for 30 days, or until a Singapore Court decides on the application, whichever is earlier. .