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Robinhood has expanded its services in Europe, allowing users to transfer more than twenty cryptocurrencies in and out of its app for the first time ever.
This service will be available to all customers in the European Union (EU). Robinhood launched its crypto trading service in the EU nearly two years ago.
Expansion driven by regulation
Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood’s crypto general manager, believes the European market has a lot of potential, especially with the change in regulatory environment.
He specifically pointed to the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which will set uniform rules across all 27 member states. Kerbrat added that:
“In terms of total addressable market, the EU is as big as the U.S.”
For a limited time, Robinhood is offering European customers who transfer tokens into its platform an incentive. Users will receive 1% of the value of their deposited tokens back in crypto.
Robinhood struggles with America’s regulation via enforcement
The situation back in the U.S. is more complicated. The SEC has been actively targeting major crypto companies like Coinbase, Binance, and Ripple.
The companies have pushed back, stating that the tokens traded on their platforms do not fall under the definition of securities that need to be registered with the SEC.
Robinhood itself is regulated by the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) at the federal level in the U.S. It also holds a BitLicense with New York’s Department of Financial Services.
But Kerbrat is frustrated with the current state of crypto regulation there, saying:
“We are disappointed by the way U.S. regulation is happening, where it’s basically regulation by enforcement.”
Meanwhile, Freetrade announced today that it would acquire the UK customer base of Australian investing app Stake. This puts it in direct competition with Robinhood.
In June, it revealed plans to acquire Luxembourg-based crypto exchange Bitstamp. The deal, valued at $200 million, was to help Robinhood expand its reach globally.
Bitstamp holds over 50 licenses in the UK, Singapore, and the EU. The acquisition is expected to close by mid-2025.
Bitstamp’s infrastructure will also allow Robinhood to expand its services to institutional investors.
Bitstamp offers a “crypto-as-a-service” product, which lets banks and other financial institutions launch their own crypto services.
Right now though, Robinhood’s crypto trading and transfer services are not available to UK customers.
While Robinhood launched its stock trading service in the UK in November last year, it hasn’t hinted at taking crypto there yet.
USA Goldmines