Robinhood to Launch Crypto Trading Services in EU in the “Coming Weeks”
Robinhood has revealed plans to introduce cryptocurrency trading services in the European Union (EU) in the near future.
Vlad Tenev, CEO and co-founder of the popular brokerage firm, made the announcement during the company’s third-quarter earnings report.
“Looking ahead, we remain focused on providing industry-leading products that serve far more of customers’ financial needs, gaining market share, expanding internationally, and continuing to change the industry for the better,” he said in a statement.
While Robinhood’s move to extend its crypto trading services beyond the United States into Europe is undoubtedly a significant development, it coincided with a decline in the platform’s overall crypto trading revenue.
The third-quarter earnings report showed a 26% drop in revenue, from $31 million in the previous quarter to $23 million.
Furthermore, when compared to the previous year, Robinhood experienced a significant decrease of 55% in crypto revenue, down from $51 million in 2022.
Moreover, the report highlighted an approximately 11% decrease in the total value of crypto assets held on behalf of customers, dropping from $11.5 billion in the previous quarter to $10.2 billion.
However, there was a 9% year-over-year increase compared to $9.4 billion.
In addition to the decline in crypto revenue, Robinhood reported a 4% decrease in total revenue from the previous quarter, falling from $486 million to $467 million.
The company’s third-quarter loss of $85 million, equivalent to a per-share loss of nine cents, was below analysts’ expectations of two cents.
Robinhood Records $25 Million in Profit in Q2
In the second quarter of 2023, Robinhood recorded a profit of $25 million.
Following the earnings report, the company’s shares experienced a decline of up to 7.5% in after-market trading, reaching $9.03.
Robinhood’s decision to expand its crypto trading services into Europe follows its earlier announcement of plans to enter the United Kingdom market.
This move represents one of the company’s most ambitious crypto-related initiatives since the introduction of its crypto wallet in 2022.
Notably, Robinhood has scaled back its offerings in the United States due to regulatory actions taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In June, the SEC sued both Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and Coinbase, the largest US-based cryptocurrency exchange.
Shortly after, Robinhood delisted a number of major tokens from its crypto trading platform that were categorized as securities in the lawsuits.
Additionally, in August, it was reported that Robinhood and Jump Crypto, a major market maker for crypto, terminated their business relationship.
Jump Crypto had attracted the SEC’s attention due to its involvement with Do Kwon, the creator of TerraUSD.
Robinhood CEO Remains Optimistic About Crypto
During an investor call following the release of the third-quarter earnings report, Tenev addressed concerns regarding the downturn in the crypto market.
He stated that the company views this as an opportunity to enhance its platform and capabilities.
Tenev further expressed his belief that expanding crypto trading into Europe, where regulatory clarity prevails, will enable Robinhood to offer a distinct set of assets compared to the U.S. market.
This expansion, he added, has the potential to introduce the brokerage’s crypto business to hundreds of millions of new users.
Regarding the U.S. market, Tenev mentioned that Robinhood is awaiting guidance from the government.
He voiced concerns that innovation within the cryptocurrency market might be overshadowed by developments overseas and stressed the importance of fostering innovation domestically.
