Bitstamp is one of the veteran crypto exchanges, operating since 2011. It’s a European-focused platform based in Slovenia, with its headquarters in London, England — and serves the USA and many other countries as well.

CryptoPotato a chance to meet up with Jean-Baptiste Graftieaux (JB for short), the company’s global Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He has held leadership roles in traditional finance, fintech, payments, and eCommerce – as well as cryptocurrency. He became the global CEO of Bitstamp in May 2022 – before that, he was serving as the CEO of Bitstsamp Europe.

At the Paris Blockchain Week Summit, Graftieaux shared with us the story of the early days of Bitcoin (“in 2011, the only way to buy BTC in Europe was by sending money to Japan”), the enormous growth of Bitstamp (“we were 8 in 2014 and now 570”), how Bitstamp picks which cryptocurrencies to list on their exchange, and the institutional growth (“we are still early”).

The Days When You Could Buy BTC Only in Japan

Many people wish they had bought Bitcoin back in the early days when prices were in the range of a few cents. However, while we’re currently used to being able to buy BTC as easy as putting your credit card details back in 2011, it was different story – according to Graftieaux.

“Back in 2011, when you wanted to buy crypto in Europe, you had to send your money to Japan. The two founders (of Bitstamp), Nate and Damian, 20 years old at the time probably, their idea was, ‘Let’s give crypto access to European users, not going to Japan, but with a European platform, European bank.’ So overnight they put together Bitstamp.”

Three years later, Bitstamp was still a startup venture, but today it’s a vast…