Robinhood’s long-awaited international expansion is well underway. A consumer trading and investing app designed specifically for younger generations is being launched Encryption application For all eligible users in the European Union, the Company He said Thursday.
This announcement comes on the heels of its entry into the UK just one week ago. While it is bringing cryptocurrency trading to EU clients, it is only making its brokerage service available in the UK at the moment.
The European Union has been at the forefront of drafting regulations to enforce traceability of cryptocurrencies to combat money laundering and protect retail traders from market volatility. Among the most important frameworks is the Markets in Cryptoassets (MiCA) rule, which focuses on regulating stablecoins and is seen as one of the world’s most comprehensive regulations for crypto assets.
“The EU has developed one of the world’s most comprehensive policies for regulating crypto assets, which is why we chose the region to anchor Robinhood Crypto’s international expansion plans,” Johan Kerbrat, managing director of Robinhood Crypto, said in a statement.
Aside from its low fees, Robinhood claims to be the only crypto exchange — where customers’ funds lie in the custody of the exchange rather than their self-hosted wallets — and will have a percentage of their trading volume each month, paid in Bitcoin. Users in the European Union can buy and sell around 25 cryptocurrencies, including major currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Robinhood is taking other measures to reassure European users that they are getting their money’s worth, given that its past business practices have been less than ideal. In the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission criticized a stock trading app for misleading users about how to make money and failing to deliver on its promise of best trade execution. It ended up paying $65 million to settle the SEC charges.
In its push for cryptocurrencies in the EU, Robinhood promises transparency by offering trading spread, which includes the rebate it receives from sell orders and trades in the app.
It also ensures that it will never mix customer currencies with business funds except for operational purposes, such as paying network fees. In the wake of the FTX collapse, users have become increasingly wary of centralized and custodial crypto platforms and are turning to decentralized alternatives.
Robinhood itself has been skittish about its cryptocurrency operations. In June, it moved voluntarily to limit trading and hold some tokens for its US clients, at a time when the government was taking a tougher stance against trading giants like Binance and Coinbase.
The Robinhood Crypto app, available on iOS and Android starting today, is limited to European citizens over the age of 18. The platform plans to include more tokens and add new features such as cryptocurrency transfers, storage, and learning rewards in 2024.