The Largest Crypto Platform Will Be Built Thanks To $363 Million Funding

Robinhood, the stock trading app has just been handed a huge amount of funding, bringing their value up to $5.6 billion. Just yesterday, they announced that they had successfully raised $363 million in a Series D funding round that was led by DST Global. The company released a statement saying;

“At Robinhood, we’re guided by the belief that America’s financial system should work for everyone – not only the wealthy. Our platform has also grown significantly, reaching over four million users, cementing Robinhood Financial as the fastest-growing brokerage ever.”

The crypto friendly platform, although being best known for commission-free stock brokerage, they have also begun Bitcoin and Ethereum trading, and they are expected to add more coins soon. This recent round of funding will enable to company to rise against Coinbase, which is currently the most dominant firm in the US cryptocurrency brokerage market. Although Robinhood Crypto is currently only available in tens states, they continue to release the platform in more states as and when it acquires money transmitter licenses. The question that everyone is asking is if it can actually rival Coinbase or not. At present, the latter is far more robust than Robinhood Crypto, and has a global user base that includes 20 million registered accounts. That said, Robinhood does have a lot going for it. Despite starting as a smartphone app, it has now developed a web interface, allows users to hold cryptocurrencies in the same account that they use to trade stocks, so it is ideal at those who are looking at cryptocurrencies as an investment option. Co-founder and co-CEO, Baiju Bhatt said;

“We expect by the end of the year to be either the largest or one of the largest crypto platforms out there. But we also really feel we’ll have the absolute best experience for investing in crypto as well – from having a large variety of coins available to a more favourable cost structure – mainly no commissions – to just quality of product.”

This is a big ambition for Robinhood, and in quite a short timeframe as well. As well as Coinbase, there are other large platforms that they have to compete against as well, so only time will tell if they do have the financial capabilities and the drive to become the biggest trading platform for cryptocurrencies in the world.