Robinhood Considering DeFi Features Like Staking and Lending

• Robinhood Crypto COO says hat the company is considering adding DeFi features like staking and lending.
• “Wallets are the first step,” said Christine Brown, Robinhood Crypto COO.
• Brown also said they would add NFT trading if there is enough consumer demand.

Online brokerage firm Robinhood has unveiled its intentions to launch a crypto wallet and allow the transfer of digital assets to personal wallets. Now, Robinhood Crypto COO Christine Brown has hinted at adding DeFi features like staking and lending.

On September 22, Robinhood announced that it is rolling out a crypto wallet and a feature to allow sending and receiving cryptocurrencies. The company said that a number of customers will be chosen to test the features starting next month, and that all users will have access to the new features by early 2022.

Brown said they aim to enable all users to move their crypto holding “off the app if they want to.” “It also enables users who want to consolidate on a single platform to come to Robinhood, get commission-free trading, and all the benefits that we have on our app,” she added.

Brown: Wallets Are the First Step

In an interview with Decrypt at the Messari Mainnet conference, Brown said that she would like to allow customers to benefit DeFi while engaging in the commission-free trading on the Robinhood platform. “We would love to give more opportunities for our customers that would actually make [crypto] a utility in their lives and not just an investment asset,” she said.

Back in May, Brown had said that staking, lending, and other DeFi features are under consideration. Considering that the brokerage would soon allow crypto withdrawals, adding decentralized finance tools would transform Robinhood Crypto into a notable rival for cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and Coinbase.

Johann Kerbratm, Robinhood Crypto CTO, also pointed out the company’s ambitious goals. He said:

We can’t tell too much about our roadmap, but something I’m really excited about is staking in general. When we are talking about the inflation rising, and savings accounts that are not producing any yield, I think staking could be something very interesting for a lot of people.

Brown said they would also add NFT trading if there is enough consumer demand, adding that crypto wallets are the first step. “It’s taking something that was one dimensional—you buy it, you hold, you sell—hopefully, the price goes up in that time—to something that is multidimensional. You can actually use your coins to do things in the crypto ecosystem,” she said.

Robinhood dabbled in crypto back in 2018, becoming one of the very first brokers to do so. Since then, the company has consistently expanded its offering of crypto as the space proved to be a lucrative business line for the broker.

In Q2 2021, Robinhood revealed that its crypto revenue has spiked by a staggering 4,282% on a year-over-year basis. Interestingly, Dogecoin accounted for over 60% of Robinhood’s revenue from cryptocurrencies in the quarter.