American financial services company Robinhood is gearing up to roll out crypto wallets within its app. The firm unveiled this news through a blog post on September 22, noting that this is its latest expansion into the crypto industry. Reportedly, the public brokerage company plans to start testing the crypto wallets with select clients in October.
According to the blog post, the company will share the experiences and feedback of the chosen users regularly to let the rest of the community get a peek at the wallets’ features. However, Robinhood intends to continue adding more customers to the testing phase as they go through its waitlist. Following this disclosure, Robinhood’s stock (HOOD) climbed 10.85% today to hit $46.88.
The wallets will, allegedly, let users move crypto in and out of the Robinhood app seamlessly. To achieve this, the company intends to support the sending and receiving of cryptos between other addresses and Robinhood accounts. This feature will let users consolidate all their digital assets in one account, making it easier to monitor their portfolios. Additionally, customers can move supported cryptos from their wallets and into their Robinhood accounts to trade the coins commission-free.
Per Robinhood, its crypto wallets will be user-friendly to offer newbies and savvy traders a wholesome experience. The company added that the wallets would feature reliable security features to protect user funds against hacks, among other threats. These include identity verification, multi-factor authentication, email, and phone verification, among others.
Simplifying crypto access
This news comes after Robinhood rolled out a feature that lets its users make recurring crypto purchases, simplifying the process of investing in the burgeoning asset class. The functionality, which is now available to all customers, enables users to purchase various cryptos commission-free. With a goal to help crypto investors focus on long-term growth, this feature allows users to buy as little as $1 worth of digital currencies daily, weekly, or monthly.
While launching the feature, Robinhood said leveraging the dollar-cost averaging (DCA) strategy can help investors grow their crypto holdings over time while minimizing the effects of market volatility. Touting the product, the firm said other crypto trading platforms charge high fees for small recurring purchases. As such, buying small amounts of crypto through such firms results in losses.
Commenting on both the recurring investment feature and its upcoming wallets, Robinhood said,
“We’re excited to make crypto more accessible by making investing simpler, more straightforward, and low cost – just as we’ve done for equities.”
Espousing the crypto movement
Robinhood launched its crypto business three years ago, exposing its growing user base to the nascent sector. The crypto business unit has since expanded significantly, netting the company $233 million in Q2 2021. In comparison, the crypto business only brought in $5 million in Q2 2020. With this in mind, the firm has dedicated its resources to help this business grow.
While Robinhood claims the crypto world is mysterious, complicated, and overwhelming, the company appreciates the industry’s mission to return power to the people. According to the firm, the crypto industry’s mission aligns with its goal to democratize finance for all.
