Trading platform Robinhood Markets HOOD continues to add to the offerings available to retail traders.
One of those offerings, crypto, will get a boost thanks to the acquisition of Bitstamp.
“We have a lot of products,” Robinhood Crypto General Manager Johann Kerbrat told Benzinga’s Zunaid Suleman in an interview Thursday at the 2024 HOOD Summit in Miami.
In addition to stock and options trading, Robinhood offers cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin BTC/USD, Ethereum ETH/USD and Dogecoin DOGE/USD.
With Robinhood Crypto, users can self-custody and control their own assets in wallets, Kerbrat said.
For many new crypto investors it’s important to start small and learn about the assets before trading, he said.
“For me, it’s all about education.”
Read Also: Robinhood Announces Futures Trading, Index Options Trading
Growth With Bitstamp Acquisition: Robinhood announced the acquisition of cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp in June, a deal that Kerbrat said should close in early 2025.
Robinhood acquired Bitstamp for three primary reasons, Kerbrat said:
- International expansion, has lots of licenses
- It’s an exchange
- Institutional business with established relationships with big companies
Robinhood is a marketplace and sends its orders to market makers, something that Bitstamp integration could change.
“With the exchange we will be able to build more advanced trading futures,” Kerbrat told Benzinga.
Investors are beginning to recognize that institutions are coming into the cryptocurrency space, something that the approval of Bitcoin ETFs helped amplify, he said: “it’s a good time for us to have this business.”
Robinhood’s 1-Stop Shop: Robinhood Crypto complements other business offerings for customers like stocks and options, Kerbrat said.
“For us, it was really being able to give access to financial instruments that customers were looking for.”
Retail investors wanted to buy cryptocurrency, but they were worried about having their own wallet and paying higher fees on other exchanges, he said.
“We took what was really good for stocks… and we brought it into crypto.”
On the Robinhood platform, users can jump between different types of assets and the ability to sell a stock and buy Bitcoin the day after, he said.
What’s Next: Kerbrat predicts that regulation and continued investments in blockchain technology will be the biggest growth themes for the cryptocurrency sector moving forward.
Institutions coming to the cryptocurrency space have added to use cases for blockchain technology, particularly in the financial sector, the Robinhood exec said.
“I think we are going to see that more and more,” he said.
More regulatory framework is needed for crypto to grow, Kerbrat said.
“In the U.S. we are missing a clear framework we can follow. We know how to work with regulators.”
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Benzinga’s Zunaid Suleman, left, interviews Robinhood Crypto General Manager Johann Kerbrat at the 2024 Hood Summit.
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