Robinhood to Launch New Wallet Allowing Users Custody Over Their Assets

Prominent investment and trading platform Robinhood is getting set to allow users to hold and have custody over their own digital assets in a stand-alone app. This move forms part of the company’s efforts to expand outside of traditional stock trading, putting it directly in competition with similar platforms like Coinbase and MetaMask.

According to Robinhood, the separate app will enable its users to store NFTs and connect to other marketplaces and decentralized stock exchanges. It is also expected to give users access to a wide array of crypto assets on other exchanges and traders may also earn yields — another way in which investments can be made profitable — through other platforms. The topic of custody over cryptocurrencies has been a notable issue surrounding the industry with some traders fearing for the security of their digital assets if they are stored in an exchange.

“We believe that crypto is more than just an asset class,” explained Robinhood co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev. “By offering the same low cost and great design that people have come to expect from Robinhood, our web3 wallet will make it easier for everyone to hold their own keys and experience all the opportunities that the open financial system has to offer.”

The company’s value and user base skyrocketed at the onset of the pandemic, particularly because it offered commission-free stock trading which gave way to a different generation of traders. It was also regarded as the most downloaded, mobile self-custody wallet in the U.S., according to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Over the past year, however, trading has significantly slowed down eventually causing Robinhood’s revenue to fall by 43%.

To reinvigorate its revenue as well as user growth, the company has been looking to offer more cryptocurrency products and features on its app. It has also extended stock trading hours and introduced an earlier version of crypto wallets in March and April, respectively. Robinhood’s new non-custodial wallet is set to be launched with a waitlist before being made available internationally.

Source: CNBC