In a blog post that came out today, Robinhood trading app announced that cryptocurrency trading was now being gradually rolled out to California, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, and New Hampshire users. The launch comes one month after Robinhood announced that they would be adding cryptocurrency trading to their exchange.
Currently, only a limited number of users have access to cryptocurrency trading on Robinhood and they are only capable of trading Bitcoin and Ethereum. In a statement Robinhood released in January, Robinhood mentioned that cryptocurrency trading will be accessible by more users and more coins would be tradeable in the future. Although cryptocurrency trading is not available to all Robinhood users at the moment, every Robinhood user has the ability to track 16 cryptocurrencies through Robinhood – Ripple, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Bitcoin Cash being a few of those currencies.
In addition to the cryptocurrency trading announcement, Robinhood announced a new communication service that allows users to discuss cryptocurrency; Robinhood’s “Feed” will allow users to discuss news and market swings. Robinhood says Feed is already available for a limited number of users and that the platform will evolve based on user feedback.
Although Robinhood’s cryptocurrency trading is up and running, it does not allow users all the abilities they would have on a cryptocurrency exchange. Robinhood currently does not allow users to transfer their existing coins to Robinhood to trade; Robinhood does this to prevent money that was illegally obtained from entering the Robinhood exchange. Robinhood also does not allow their users to withdraw their coins, however, the company says they plan to allow users to withdraw their coins from Robinhood in the future.
Over 1 mln users have signed up for early access to Robinhood’s cryptocurrency service. On the Robinhood trading app, users can buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum commission-free. Upon mentioning plans to implement cryptocurrency trading, Robinhood’s user base grew to 4 mln users. This means that the 1 mln users in line for early access to Robinhood’s cryptocurrency trading service represent 25 percent of Robinhood’s entire user base. The day Robinhood announced they would be providing cryptocurrency trading services on their platform – Jan. 25, 2018 – Bitcoin price was $11,600. Today – the day Robinhood launched their cryptocurrency trading service – Bitcoin price has dropped to $9,924.
Tomiwabold Olajide
Yuri Molchan
Vladislav Sopov
Dan Burgin