Robinhood Poised to Launch Crypto Trading in Europe

Robinhood’s quarterly financial report is in – with slightly disappointing news for shareholders but very interesting news for customers based in the EU.

Dip in Revenue Since Last Quarter

According to the report, Robinhood’s revenues for the third quarter of 2023 added up to a total of $467 million, a 4% decrease in income from the past quarter. Overall, Robinhood lost $85 million in Q3, resulting in a per-share loss of 9 cents.

Robinhood’s crypto division, however, tells a slightly different story.

Although the amount of crypto stashed on behalf of customers decreased by approximately 11% since last quarter, the current figure of $10.2 billion still represents a 9% year-over-year increase since Q3 of 2022, when crypto winter was still in full swing and investor caution was running high.

In spite of declining revenues – and the hard decisions sparked by the popular trading platform’s financial situation – Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev continues to prepare for further expansion.

“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. […] We are focused on using this (situation) as an opportunity to build our capabilities to build our platform.”

One of these expansions is Robinhood’s planned enabling of crypto trading in the European Union, which is coming “within the next few weeks.”

Better Regulatory Environment

Up until now, crypto trading on Robinhood was only possible in the U.S. However, just a few months after the firm announced plans to acquire companies in the UK ahead of a scheduled expansion abroad, Robinhood will be bringing crypto trading capabilities to Europe.

According to Tenev, the regulatory environment in Europe allows for a different set of assets than those available in the U.S. – a possible reference to the decision to delist ADA, SOL, and MATIC after the SEC sued Binance and Coinbase for allowing said tokens to be traded, believing them to be unregistered securities.

“Regulatory clarity (in the EU) will allow Robinhood to offer a different set of assets compared with the U.S. It would be a shame if innovation in the cryptocurrency market were coopted overseas.”

Ark Invest, eToro, and Galaxy Digital also announced plans to pivot towards Europe in recent months, as the SEC continues to sue companies it deems in violation of American financial law.