Robinhood: From capturing trading market share to its ambition to tap into industry assets
- While trading forms the bedrock of the investment platform, Robinhood has embraced the ethos of diversification.
- New product adoption and revenue from non-trading sources, particularly from retirement accounts, were key contributors to the significant growth seen in Q4 2023 results.
Jack of all trades (pun intended), master in some.
by SARA KHAIRI
While Gen AI has been the primary focus of discussions quite recently, attention has also shifted to bitcoin after the SEC approved US-listed ETFs. This development has sparked renewed interest and conversation surrounding cryptocurrency within the broader conversation.
Crypto advocates are optimistic that the advent of bitcoin ETFs will likely propel a surge in demand for the asset class and attract a diverse array of investors who had previously been hesitant due to lingering concerns about custody practices and the safety of crypto exchanges.
While this might hold water for novice crypto investors, it doesn’t quite ring true for Robinhood traders who still opt to trade in spot bitcoin rather than bitcoin ETFs. Despite the online brokerage offering all the 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs since January 11, the first day of trading, only 5% of overall trading in crypto has come through the ETF, with 95% still executed via spot trading, according to Jason Warnick, CFO Robinhood. However, this trend could become clearer once the next Q1 2024 results are in.
While trading forms the bedrock of the business, the investment platform has embraced the ethos of diversification.