3 ms·
Private Equity firm is acquiring a lot of currency conversion APIs
I'm working on a side project that needed a currency conversion API, and I'd originally started using https://exchangeratesapi.io/ which until a few days ago was a free API - https://web.archive.org/web/20210328014153/https://exchangeratesapi.io/
As of today, it is now a paid API, and says it's operated by apilayer (which was recently acquired by a private equity firm).
It seems like they've acquired a decent number of currency conversion APIs:
1. https://openrates.io/
2. https://currencystack.io/
3. https://fixer.io
And probably a few more.
It's almost amazing how private equity strategy works :)
- junon 6y agoAt what point does this sort of thing become legally questionable?
- jhugo 6y agoAt no point? These APIs are all secondary sources anyway, the actual price is public information on the actual currency markets
- kasey_junk 6y agoCurrency (spot) markets are not typically public. They are usually OTC deals between 1 counterparty and a specific bank. Even on multi dealer platforms you don’t see the same prices other people trading on those platforms see.
- webmaven 6y ago> At what point does this sort of thing become legally questionable? Only at the point where the roll-up creates a dominant player (or several, ie. a monopoly, duopoly, or oligopoly[0]) and antitrust rules kick in to prevent further consolidation or abuse (of various sorts) of the dominant position(s). [0] In theory, antitrust also protects from abuse of monopsonies etc., but abuse of a dominant buyer (eg. Walmart) is harder to accomplish and maintain, harder to prove harm, and harder to regulate.
- protoduction 6y agoIf anybody is looking for a free alternative that just works, I'm using [1] for a demo on my product's homepage [2]. I suppose it is a bit different in scope though (updated daily instead of near realtime). [1]: https://exchangerate.host/ https://exchangerate.host/ [2]: https://starboard.gg/#visualization https://starboard.gg/#visualization