American financial services company Robinhood has announced that it is set to acquire WonderFi, a leading Canadian fintech and crypto platform, for $178.9 million (250 million CAD). The firm will buy WonderFi’s shares for $0.26 (0.36 CAD) each.
Robinhood announced the deal on May 13. This marks a significant step in its international expansion into the Canadian cryptocurrency market.
Robinhood to Enter Canadian Market via WonderFi Acquisition
According to the official announcement, Robinhood will finance the purchase with cash. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2025, pending regulatory approvals, court approval, and WonderFi shareholder consent.
Notably, WonderFi currently manages over 2.1 billion CAD in custodied assets. It operates two Canadian-regulated digital asset exchanges, Bitbuy and Coinsquare. Furthermore, in 2024, the platform recorded a trading volume of 3.57 billion CAD and revenue of 62.1 million CAD.
“WonderFi has built a formidable family of brands serving beginner and advanced crypto users alike, making them an ideal partner to accelerate Robinhood’s mission in Canada,” Johann Kerbrat, SVP and GM of Robinhood Crypto, stated.
With this latest move, Robinhood aims to expand its offerings in Canada, a growing crypto market. The acquisition will leverage WonderFi’s technologies and products, including crypto trading, staking, and custody services.
Following the agreement, WonderFi will operate under Robinhood Crypto while continuing to deliver its existing products to Canadian customers. The WonderFi leadership team, including President and CEO Dean Skurka, will remain in place. They will join forces with Robinhood’s existing Canadian workforce of over 140 employees, based primarily in Toronto.
“WonderFi and Robinhood are united in our visions of making crypto accessible and bringing more people into the crypto space,” Skurka said.
The news positively impacted Robinhood’s stock, HOOD. According to Yahoo Finance data, the stock prices rose 8.9% to $62.5 at market close. Additionally, HOOD appreciated an additional 0.3% to $62.7 in after-hours trading.
This latest decision aligns with Robinhood’s broader strategy to expand its global footprint in the cryptocurrency sector. In 2024, the firm entered an agreement to acquire Bitstamp.
These deals are supported by a more favorable regulatory environment under President Trump’s second term. In fact, in late February, the SEC dropped its investigation into Robinhood, with similar steps taken for Coinbase, OpenSea, and others.
Meanwhile, Robinhood isn’t alone in its expansion plans. On May 8, Coinbase announced its $2.9 billion purchase of Deribit. Preceding that, Ripple acquired Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. In addition, Kraken bought NinjaTrader in a $1.5 billion deal. This reflects a broader trend of major crypto players acquiring financial platforms.
South Korea has pushed Google to restrict access to 17 foreign trading platforms, including KuCoin and MEXC.
The crackdown, which took effect on March 25, is part of the country’s ongoing efforts to regulate the crypto industry and safeguard local investors.
Here’s Why the South Korean Government Took Action
South Korea’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), confirmed that Google Play had removed KuCoin and MEXC, among 15 other exchanges, from its platform. The move makes it impossible for new users to install the apps.
“Since March 25, at the request of the South Korean government, Google has implemented domestic access restrictions on 17 exchanges that are not registered in South Korea. Users cannot install new related applications or update them, including KuCoin, MEXC, Phemex, XT, Biture, CoinW, CoinEX, ZoomEX, Poloniex, BTCC, DigiFinex, Pionex, Blofin, Apex Pro, CoinCatch, WEEX, and BitMart,” Wu Blockchain reported.
Existing users are also unable to update them, further limiting their accessibility. According to the FSC, these platforms failed to register under South Korean law while actively targeting local traders. With this, they effectively violated the country’s regulatory requirements.
South Korea has some of the world’s strictest crypto regulations, and authorities have been increasingly aggressive in enforcing them. Under the Specific Financial Transaction Information Reporting and Use Act, any foreign virtual asset service provider (VASP) operating in South Korea must register with the country’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
The FSC emphasized that this latest measure aims to prevent financial crimes such as money laundering and protect investors from potential fraud. The regulator outlined the criteria to determine whether an exchange was operating illegally in the country.
These included offering a Korean-language website, actively marketing to local users, and supporting transactions in Korean won.
While this enforcement action is significant, it is not the first time South Korean authorities have taken a hard stance against foreign exchanges. In 2022, the FIU identified and restricted 16 unregistered platforms, followed by another six in 2023.
The latest crackdown signals regulators are doubling their efforts to bring the crypto market under stricter oversight.
Upbit Exchange To Grow Market Edge
With major international exchanges facing restrictions, the dominance of local platforms like Upbit has only strengthened. The exchange controls a significant share of South Korea’s crypto trading market.
BeInCrypto recently reported that over 30% of South Korea’s population trades cryptocurrency. Upbit processes the bulk of these transactions. This latest move against foreign exchanges could further consolidate Upbit’s position in the market, making it the go-to platform for retail and institutional investors.
“South Korea isn’t playing when it comes to crypto regulations. This move [blacklisting 17 exchanges] puts a real hurdle in front of traders using these exchanges,” one user remarked.
Upbit Dominates South Korean exchanges in Trading volume. Source: CoinGecko
By enforcing compliance measures and weeding out unregistered players, the government is creating a more structured environment that may attract traditional financial (TradFi) institutions looking for regulatory clarity before investing in digital assets.
The country has also been taking steps to delay taxation on crypto investments, which signals a more balanced approach that seeks to encourage growth in the sector while ensuring investor protection.
Welcome to the US Crypto News Morning Briefing—your essential rundown of the most important developments in crypto for the day ahead.]
Grab a coffee as we delve into market sentiment about XRP ETFs (exchange-traded funds) in the US. As prospects for this financial instrument continue to grow, experts have weighed in on the possible impact on Ripple’s XRP token.
Crypto News of the Day: XRP ETF Inflows to Reach $8.3 Billion, Standard Chartered Predicts
There has been much chatter this week in crypto about XRP ETFs, ranging from false rumors and reports to delays in key decisions. However, one thing appears certain: the conversation is growing more than ever.
In a recent US Crypto News publication, ETF analyst Eric Balchunas indicated they have raised their odds to 85%. Based on this, analysts offer diverging outlooks on how such a product might perform.
“XRP price could rise to $12.23 or $22.20 after ETF Approval if XRP ETFs Get 15% to 30% of Bitcoin ETF Inflows,” a popular account on X shared.
BeInCrypto data shows that XRP was trading for $2.22 as of this writing, down by almost 1% in the last 24 hours.
Against this backdrop, BeInCrypto contacted Standard Chartered for a commentary. The bank’s head of digital assets research, Geoff Kendrick, said it was challenging to predict precise inflow figures.
However, he indicated that comparative data from Europe could provide some guidance.
“The amount of eventual inflows to XRP ETFs is difficult to estimate. However, Bitwise has listed ETPs in Germany for XRP, Solana, Litecoin, BTC, and ETH, which may provide an apples-for-apples comparison,” Kendrick told BeInCrypto.
Drawing on his prediction of how an XRP ETF could perform and the associated impact on XRP price, Kendrick compared Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other altcoins.
Citing Bitwise data, the Standard Chartered executive noted that altcoins garner a larger percentage of ETP (exchange-traded product) net asset value (NAV) as a percentage of coin market capitalization than Bitcoin and Ethereum.
However, he acknowledged that this could be because fewer ETPs are available for altcoins. Kendrick added that NAV-to-market-cap ratios from already approved US spot ETFs provide a useful benchmark.
Based on these assessments, Geoff Kendrick projected that a US-listed spot XRP ETF could attract as much as $8.3 billion in inflows within its first year.
“Of the US spot ETFs approved so far, NAV as a percentage of market cap is 3% for Ethereum and just under 6% for Bitcoin. At current XRP market cap, that would imply a range of $4.4 billion to $8.3 billion as a future total NAV measure for an XRP ETF, which seems like a reasonable target range for inflows in the first 12 months,” Kendrick added.
Kendrick Sees Ripple Price at $8, Bitfinex Analysts Question Investor Interest for XRP ETFs
The Standard Chartered executive said he expects XRP price gains to keep pace with Bitcoin price growth targets.
He forecasted the Ripple price to rise to $8 by 2026, contingent on spot XRP ETF approvals in the US. This would constitute a 260% surge above the current price of $2.22.
“In real terms, XRP inflation is currently 6%, versus 0.8% for Bitcoin. As such, we target the XRP-USD price levels of $5.50 at end-2025, $8.00 at end-2026, $10.40 at end-2027, $12.50 at end-2028 and $12.25 at end-2029,” Kendrick explained.
Meanwhile, analysts at Bitfinex caution against optimism, saying that investor interest in a US-based spot XRP ETF may not match that witnessed in Bitcoin ETFs.
“We expect limited inflows into an XRP ETF as some investors may choose to broaden their exposure across available crypto ETFs. However it is unlikely to see the level of flows experienced by Bitcoin,” Bitfinex analysts told BeInCrypto.
The contrasting assessments reflect broader uncertainty over how altcoin ETFs might perform in a regulated US market.
Bitcoin’s dominance and changing regulatory attitudes toward digital assets still heavily influence the crypto market in the US.
So far, Grayscale, Wisdom Tree, Bitwise, Canary, and 21Shares have filed for XRP ETF approvals with the SEC. Bitwise’s application received official acknowledgment on February 18, triggering several timelines for approving, denying, or extending the application.
The final deadline is October 12, 240 days after official receipt. This date is equivalent to the ‘final deadline’ of January 10, 2024, for BTC ETF approvals, the day they were approved.
However, with other applications beyond XRP ETF pending approval, including Solana and Litecoin, Kendrick noted that other applications in the pipeline could affect the timeline for XRP ETF approval.
“Litecoin seems most likely to progress the fastest, providing early insight into how the new SEC leadership will treat altcoin ETFs,” Kendrick said.
As a hard fork of Bitcoin, Litecoin could already be viewed by the SEC as a commodity rather than a security. According to Kendrick, its similarity to Bitcoin may make it conceptually easier for investors to understand.
“We expect a wave of cryptocurrency ETFs next year, albeit not all at once. First out is likely the BTC + ETH combo ETFs, then probably Litecoin (because it is a fork of BTC, [therefore it’s a] commodity), then HBAR (because it’s not labeled security), and then XRP/Solana (which have been labeled securities in pending lawsuits),” Balchunas stated.
