© Reuters. The logo of Robinhood Markets, Inc. is seen at a pop-up event on Wall Street after the company’s IPO in New York City, U.S., July 29, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
(Reuters) -Robinhood Markets on Thursday launched crypto trading for customers in the European Union, expanding into a market with greater regulatory clarity at a time when crypto firms are facing intense scrutiny in the United States.
The company will allow EU customers to trade in more than 25 cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ethereum, free of commissions.
“The EU has developed one of the world’s most comprehensive policies for crypto asset regulation, which is why we chose the region to anchor Robinhood (NASDAQ:) Crypto’s international expansion plans,” the company said in a blog post.
The region had in May unveiled the world’s first comprehensive set of rules to regulate crypto assets, prompting industry executives to hail EU as the next frontier for expansion.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has cracked down on crypto firms like Coinbase (NASDAQ:) Global and Binance even as it lost a high-profile case against Grayscale.
Robinhood’s expansion will also help it cash in on the resurgent investor interest in the digital asset space.
Optimism over the imminent approval of a spot bitcoin exchange traded-fund has lifted the price of bitcoin to its highest since early last year.
To gain a toehold in the market, the California-based company will offer EU customers up to one bitcoin free when they sign up and one more for each successful referral.
Robinhood has also sought to address fears of theft, one of the most common worries among crypto investors, through a crime insurance policy, underwritten by Lloyd’s.
It will cover a portion of the assets held across Robinhood’s storage systems, the company said.
The company’s EU entry comes just a week after it launched stock trading for UK customers. Bloomberg News first reported the EU expansion.
