Stock trading app Robinhood has raised $363 M in a series D funding round in order to expand US wide its crypto trading platform, ‘Robinhood Crypto’, according to a press release from the company.
Robinhood provides commission-free trading services for US stocks and ETFs through its app to retail investors. Earlier this year, the company also launched a commission-free cryptocurrency trading platform to allow buying and selling of Bitcoin and Ethereum, as demand from retail investors rose. The funding makes Robinhood the second most valuable fintech startup in the US with its current valuation of $5.6 Bn registering more than a fourfold increase from last year. The round was led by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner’s investment group, DST Global, with new investors including Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Iconiq Capital and Capital G (the VC arm of Google’s parent company Alphabet).
Robinhood is now looking to expand its cryptocurrency trading service, which is currently available in 10 US states, to eventually cover the whole country, as soon it receives the necessary licenses, which is expected by the end of 2018. The new funds will be spent on product expansion, infrastructure, operations and hiring new staff. In an interview, the Co-CEO Baiju Bhatt said the company plans to offer “trading in 16 different cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and Zcash” as well as a “more favorable cost structure” than existing platforms with no commissions. Bhatt stated Robinhood is already a registered broker-dealer with the Securities and Exchange Commission, unlike leading US crypto trading platform Coinbase.
