Robinhood is looking to offer cryptocurrency futures to its customers in the U.S. and Europe, Bloomberg reports.
The trading platform that acquired U.K.-based crypto exchange Bitstamp for $200 million last month is planning to close the deal next year. The platform hopes to use Bitstamp’s licenses to offer perpetual futures for Bitcoin and other tokens in Europe, per the report. This information comes from anonymous sources, as the plans have not been made public, according to Bloomberg. Robinhood intends to introduce CME-based futures for Bitcoin and Ether in the U.S. They also mentioned that there are no immediate plans to launch the offering, and discussions are ongoing, so final plans could change.
In mid-morning trading, Robinhood stock was down 1.8%, hovering around $22.
A crypto derivatives contract is a tradable financial instrument whose value derives from an underlying cryptocurrency asset. It allows traders to speculate on the asset’s price movements without actually owning it.
Robinhood has always been a proponent of cryptocurrency, and it appears that it wants to expand its cryptocurrency offerings without much concern for the Wells notice it received from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding alleged violations of securities laws.
Moreover, Robinhood was one of the first platforms to allow Dogecoin trading on its app. As a result, 62% of its crypto revenue came from Dogecoin in 2021. It launched a cryptocurrency wallet in the same year that gained popularity among investors.
If Robinhood begins offering crypto derivatives, it would directly compete with Coinbase, which is already involved in the crypto derivatives business.
