Online broker Robinhood to launch fee-free cryptocurrency trading in the EU

What’s new? Online broker Robinhood is releasing a separate app for EU residents that will allow trading cryptocurrencies with zero fees. It supports more than 25 assets, including BTC, ETH, and SOL. In addition, the application has a loyalty program similar to the cashback system: users will be credited a percentage of the monthly trading volume, and payments will be made in bitcoins. At the same time, the company is not yet planning to launch crypto services in the UK due to the lack of a regulatory framework.

Bloomberg’s material

What else is known? The company’s revenue from cryptocurrency activity in the EU will be generated by fees for market makers and other trading platforms using Robinhood, at a rate of 65 basis points. This is almost double the rate for partners in the United States (35 basis points).

Robinhood Crypto’s European customers will not yet be able to transfer assets outside of the app. The company plans to add this feature next year, along with more tokenization and staking services.

In the US, Robinhood only supports 15 tokens. In June, SOL, ADA, and MATIC coins were removed for local users due to the SEC regulator categorizing them as unregistered securities in lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase exchanges.

At the same time, in a new letter to investors, Robinhood’s management notes that the volume of cryptocurrency trading on the platform has increased by 75% over the past month. Shares of the company itself under the HOOD ticker for the same period added 15б24%. On December 7, the value of one security on the Nasdaq exchange was $11,27 (+7,03% per day).

In September, Robinhood bought back its shares from the founder of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried for almost $606 million. They had been in the custody of the US Department of Justice since the exchange’s collapse. The businessman, currently awaiting a verdict on an $8 billion fraud case, bought HOOD in May 2022 for $648,29 million.

After Robinhood announced its entry into the EU market, it instantly became the most discussed topic in the crypto community, and ARK Invest, led by Cathie Wood, purchased HOOD for $9,5 million. In November, ARK increased its investment in the broker by another $3,24 million.

The Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) Act, which regulates the rules for issuing cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and other digital assets, as well as the rules for providing related services, is being phased in across the EU. It will come into full force in mid-2026.