The world is in the midst of an exciting new era of cryptocurrency trading.
With the global market’s first cryptocurrency trading platform to be set up by a US-based bitcoin company, the future of bitcoin trading is bright.
The company behind the new exchange, Venmo, has confirmed it has been bought by another US-focused company.
The firm said on Monday that it had acquired the company called BitShares for $3.5 billion, in an all-cash deal.
BitShares is based in the US and has offices in the UK, France, Germany and China.
It is one of the biggest US exchanges, with trading volumes of $14 billion.
It was launched in 2015 and the company currently has around 15,000 customers.
Venmo CEO Matt McFarland said he had been working on the deal with a US trading partner since last December.
“We’ve been working hard to acquire a platform for bitcoin trading that is more transparent and accessible for the broader community,” he told CoinDesk.
“With this acquisition we’re adding value to the platform, giving it a much-needed boost.”
The deal also removes the uncertainty surrounding whether the firm will remain as a private company or become a public company.
The former had been the subject of an antitrust investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The SEC said in July that the exchange had violated the terms of a 2015 merger agreement with Coinbase, an online bitcoin wallet service that operates in more than 200 countries.
The agency said that Venmo had been involved in a “massive transaction scheme” that involved paying $6.8 million in commissions to the exchange, which was used to cover the fees for other trading platforms, including those based in India.
It added that Venpo had also been involved with a “significant” scheme that was “more than $20m in illegal conduct”.
“We are committed to addressing any issues that arise,” it added.
The SEC did not specify what was alleged in its investigation.
Venmo did not respond to requests for comment.
While the SEC said it found that Venpx’s “fraudulent activities” had been a “major factor in the commission payment to the Exchange, there are also concerns about Venpx potentially engaging in illegal activity,” it said.
“The investigation will continue to determine if Venpx engaged in fraudulent conduct.”
The SEC’s investigation will also be looking at any actions taken by Venpx regarding its internal control over its operations.
Venpx is cooperating fully with the SEC’s efforts to resolve the matter.
“Bitcoin has seen rapid growth in the past year.
The price of a bitcoin on the New York Stock Exchange has surged more than 70% in the last year alone.
A number of exchanges have been created to compete with Venmo.
Last month, BitShares was acquired by the same company, Coinbase, and added to the US exchange’s list of platforms.
