- Robinhood has expanded its international services by launching commission-free cryptocurrency trading in the European Union
- The app offers trading of more than 25 coins, with a loyalty program crediting users a percentage of monthly trading volume in bitcoin
- The app, live since Thursday, marks the company’s entrance into the EU, overcoming historical regulatory concerns
Robinhood is expanding its international presence by launching commission-free cryptocurrency trading in the European Union, following its recent debut in the UK with stock-broking services. The app, which went live yesterday Thursday, will enable European investors to trade over 25 cryptocurrencies, with a loyalty program crediting users a percentage of their monthly trading volume in bitcoin. Robinhood’s CFO said last year that the company was holding back some features due to regulatory uncertainty, but it seems that, in Europe at least, these concerns have been overcome.
Robinhood Still Has Appeal For Newbies
Robinhood was a catalyst for the incredible runs of some cryptocurrencies in 2021, most notably DOGE which ran 6,700% between January and May that year, with huge numbers of people using Robinhood to help run the price up. Robinhood has been registered as a virtual currency exchange operator in Lithuania since September and is working to secure approvals in more EU countries.
The company will eventually need full authorization as a crypto service provider in at least one EU member state when the Markets in Cryptoassets (MiCA) regime comes into effect in early 2025.
UK Expansion Could Come
Robinhood aims to generate revenue from its crypto brokerage through rebates from market makers and trading venues; in Europe, the rebate will be around 65 basis points per trade, almost double the 35 basis points earned from crypto orders executed in the US. Robinhood Crypto in Europe won’t initially allow users to transfer their crypto holdings outside of the app, but the company plans to introduce this feature next year along with additional tokens and staking services.
While the company is happy to expand into Europe, its concerns over regulations mean that it doesn’t currently plan to extend its crypto services to the UK market until a MiCA-like framework has been established. Given that the UK is actively working on crypto legislation to boost its hopes of becoming a digital asset hub this may not be too far into the future.
