Retail investing platform Robinhood on Tuesday announced that it’s offering customers in Europe the ability to transfer cryptocurrencies in and out of its app, broadening its product capabilities in the region as it presses ahead with international expansion.
In a blog post on Tuesday, the company said that it’ll allow customers in the European Union to deposit and withdraw more than 20 digital currencies through its platform, including bitcoin, ethereum, solana, and USD coin.
The move effectively gives Robinhood’s European users the ability to “self-custody” assets — meaning that, rather than entrusting your cryptocurrency to a third-party platform, you can instead take ownership of it in a fully owned wallet that holds your funds.
In December last year, Robinhood launched its crypto trading service, Robinhood Crypto, in the EU for the first time. The service allowed users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, but not to move them away from the platform, either to another third-party platform or to their own self-custodial wallet.
Johann Kerbrat, general manager of Robinhood’s crypto unit, told CNBC that he thinks the EU has the potential to become an attractive market for digital currencies, thanks to crypto-friendly regulations being adopted by the bloc.
“The EU can become a very attractive market next year,” Kerbrat said in an interview. He pointed to the EU’s landmark Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), regulation, which sets out harmonized rules for the crypto sector across all 27 of the bloc’s member states.
Once MiCA is fully in place, Kerbrat said, every EU country will fall under the same unified regime.
“In terms of total addressable market, [the EU] is as big as the U.S.,” he told CNBC, adding, “it’s definitely an interesting market for us.”
Robinhood added that, for a limited time, the company will offer European customers the ability to get 1% of the value of tokens deposited on its platform back in the form of the equivalent cryptocurrency they transfer into Robinhood.
Robinhood is rolling out new features in the EU at a time when U.S. crypto firms are sparring with regulators at home. In the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission has sued several companies including Coinbase, Binance and Ripple over claims that they’re all dealing in unregistered securities.
Each of the platforms has contested the SEC’s allegations, stipulating that tokens marketed and sold on their platforms don’t quality as securities that should be registered with the agency.
“We are disappointed by the way U.S. regulation is happening, where it’s basically regulation by enforcement,” Kerbret told CNBC. “We are not super happy to see that.”
Robinhood is regulated by the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) at a federal level in the U.S. It also holds a BitLicense with New York State Department of Financial Services.
Bitstamp deal
In June, Robinhood announced that it would acquire Luxembourg-based crypto platform Bitstamp to take advantage of the firm’s exchange technology and further expand its reach globally. The deal, which is valued at approximately $200 million in cash, is set to close in the first half of 2025.
Kerbrat said that the company’s deal to buy Bitstamp would help it gain access to even more international markets and obtain coveted regulatory permissions around the world. Bitstamp holds over 50 licenses and registrations globally including in Singapore, the U.K. and the EU.
Beyond expanding globally, the deal with Bitstamp is also expected to help Robinhood diversify its crypto business to serve more institutional investors, Kerbrat told CNBC. For example, Bitstamp offers a “crypto-as-a-service” offering which helps banks and other financial firms launch their own crypto capabilities.
Robinhood’s crypto trading, deposit and withdrawal functionality are currently only available to customers in the European Union, not in the U.K. The company launched its popular stock trading service to Brits in November last year. However, it does not yet currently offer crypto services to U.K. clients.
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading: KULR Technology Group — The space technology company skyrocketed more than 26% after it bought 217.18 bitcoin worth about $21 million. The cryptocurrency purchase was the first for the company since it announced a new bitcoin treasury initiative on Dec. 4, the day bitcoin hit the $100,000 level for the first time . KULR plans to allocate up to 90% of its surplus cash to bitcoin, borrowing a page from MicroStrategy’s playbook. Honda — U.S.-listed shares rallied 4%, continuing to advance after the automaker announced official merger talks earlier this week with fellow Japanese automaker Nissan. That gain raised its week-to-date advance above 18%. Toyota Motor — Shares climbed more than 8% after Nikkei, citing an executive who asked not to be named, reported that the automaker plans to double its return on equity, or ROE, target to 20% . Alibaba — Shares of the e-commerce giant rose about 1% on the heels of an announcement of a joint venture with South Korean retailer Shinsegae. Alibaba’s stock is still down more than 1% in December. GameStop — Shares of the video game retailer jumped about 4%, extending its gains from Tuesday. GameStop has risen four straight days and climbed nearly 85% this year. Crypto stocks — Stocks tied to the price of bitcoin cut earlier losses but remained under pressure with the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is hovering at the $96,000 level and about 11% off its record. Shares of Coinbase were down nearly 2%, while MicroStrategy dipped about 3%. Miners Mara Holdings and Iren were each lower by more than 2%. Broadcom — Broadcom shares gained nearly 3% to build on a strong year-to-date and December rally. The stock is up about 51% this month and has notched new highs. Shares have rallied 119% in 2024. Assembly Biosciences — The biotechnology stock popped 4% after reporting “encouraging” results from a clinical trial for a chronic hepatitis B treatment. Enrollment is currently underway for the second cohort. Kewaunee Scientific — The health-care product maker advanced 3% after Chief Financial Officer Donald Gardner disclosed a sale of 2,000 shares of common stock. Following the sale, Gardner beneficially owns 22,600 shares. — CNBC’s Pia Singh, Tanaya Macheel, Jesse Pound, Sean Conlon and Samantha Subin contributed reporting.
Check out the companies making headlines before the stock market opens. GameStop – Shares jumped more than 4%, extending their gains from Tuesday. The video game retailer has risen four straight days and climbed more than 77% in 2024. Crypto stocks – Stocks linked to the price of bitcoin moved lower as the cryptocurrency slid on Thursday. Shares of bitcoin proxy MicroStrategy fell about 3%, and crypto services provider Coinbase dropped about 2%. Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms pulled back more than 2%. Honda – U.S.-listed shares rose more than 4%, bringing this week’s advance to advance to about 14%, on the heels of merger talks announced at the start of the week with fellow Japanese automaker Nissan. The move also comes amid a rally among Asia-Pacific stocks following a report that Japan’s government is reportedly set to propose a record $735 billion budget. Starbucks – Shares edged down 0.4% after the coffee chain’s workers expanded a strike earlier this week. The holiday work action now affects more than 300 stores in 45 states. American Airlines – The airline fell 0.6% after the Fort Worth-based carrier was forced to temporarily halt flights on Tuesday morning due to a computer glitch that caused a systemwide ground stop. American ended Tuesday 0.6% higher. — CNBC’s Alex Harring and Jesse Pound contributed reporting.
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