ROBIN HOOD grabs from the rich and puts it in cryptocurrencies? NO NO NO! Not THAT Robin Hood. THIS Robinhood is ROBINHOOD MARKETS, INC. Yup, the Robonhood that offers a free stock trading app is now going to allow cryptocurrency trading..........in select states. Specifically, only Bitcoin and Ethereum will be offered and, initially, only in five states before rolling out more states by mid-year. This will put Robinhood in competition with Coinbase, both very successful startups, and in a race to sign up new users. And, by the way, that target demographic (18-34....half of all bitcoin holders) is pretty massive......and growing. So, the fledgling crypto trading market is already experiencing fee compression. Good luck guys.
(Bill Taylor/Managing Editor)
- "Users in select states can now trade Bitcoin and Ethereum
- Robinhood competing with fellow fintech startup Coinbase
More than 4 million people have signed up to open accounts at Robinhood Markets Inc. as the brokerage app begins offering commission-free trading of Bitcoin and Ethereum today for the first time.
The Palo Alto, California-based firm, which first gained traction by offering a free stock-trading app, said last month that it was getting into digital assets. Trading in the two largest cryptocurrencies is available to users in California, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana and New Hampshire. The startup aims offer the service in most U.S. states by midyear.
Robinhood had signed up 2 million users as of April, a figure it saw jump to 3 million in November and skyrocket since saying it would offer crypto trading.
This gives another financial technology startup and popular digital currency exchange, Coinbase Inc., a new competitor. It’s unclear how many of these new accounts either moved from Coinbase or have accounts at both startups, but each firm is targeting a similar demographic. According to a recent survey, more than half of Bitcoin holders are between the ages of 18 and 34..."
Full Story at Bloomberg