Robinhood rolls out cryptocurrency wallet to 2 million users

[SAN FRANCISCO] Robinhood Financial officially rolled out its cryptocurrency wallet on Thursday (Apr 7), giving access to more than 2 million customers that were on a waiting list for the digital product.

Chief product officer Aparna Chennapragada made the announcement as part of the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami and said in an interview at the event that the product shows the company's commitment to the crypto space.

"You'll see us play a very active role in crypto and shaping it," Chennapragada said.

The company's wallet enables users to interact with crypto outside of Robinhood's trading platform, such as allowing them to buy non-fungible tokens, according to Chennapragada. The product was first announced in September, not long after Robinhood chief executive, Vlad Tenev said that a crypto wallet was in high demand among customers during the company's second-quarter earnings call.

Robinhood first began testing the wallet among users in the fall and made changes based on their feedback, such as adding visualisations that help explain the steps of a crypto transaction, Chennapragada said.

Known for its commission-free equities trading and its role in the meme-stock craze, the company has been steadily establishing itself as a force in crypto. However, Robinhood's transaction revenue from crypto has been up and down, reflecting the volatility of digital currencies.

In the fourth quarter of last year, cryptocurrencies generated about US$48 million in transaction-based revenue for Robinhood, a 79 per cent drop from the US$233 million reported in the second quarter. Even so, Chennapragada said the company will continue to play a "key part" in the industry.

In addition to rolling out its wallet, Robinhood is also working on allowing customers to use the Lightning Network, a blockchain platform designed to make Bitcoin transactions faster and cheaper.

Chennapragada said the Menlo Park, California-based company is improving its Bitcoin capabilities because of how the currency has helped broaden adoption of crypto.

"Bitcoin is actually the top most recurring buy for our customers, more than even many of the stocks that you think about," she said. BLOOMBERG