Yesterday, Robinhood announced the launch of their wallet for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
The Robinhood Wallet for now, however, is only available as an Android App.
Summary
Robinhood’s Bitcoin wallet
Robinhood Wallet is an app for self-custody of cryptocurrencies.
Therefore, it is disconnected from their centralized exchange, and allows for the custody of tokens independently.
Their new crypto wallet aims to be a gateway to the world of web3, offering users full ownership and exclusive control of their cryptocurrencies.
The goal of this initiative is to expand the company’s mission of making Robinhood the most reliable and easy way to use cryptocurrencies.
In reality, the Robinhood Wallet had already been launched last year, but it was not available to everyone. However, as of yesterday, it has been made available to all eligible Android users globally.
In recent months, it has already been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times in over 140 countries, and today’s launch on Android is just another step forward towards the company’s mission of democratizing finance for everyone.
The Robinhood Wallet stores users’ private keys and controls their digital assets. It safeguards, manages, sends, and receives cryptocurrencies on the Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Arbitrum, Polygon, Optimism, and Base networks. The last four are all Ethereum layer-2 solutions.
It also allows for direct exchange of cryptocurrencies, but only on the Ethereum, Polygon, and Arbitrum networks, thanks to 0x API and LI.FI.
Furthermore, it allows users to fund their portfolio directly from their balance on the Robinhood app.
Robinhood’s commitment to the crypto world
Robinhood Markets is the US company based in Menlo Park, California, that launched and manages the Robinhood app.
This app, launched in 2014, allows you to trade on traditional markets in a simple way and without commission costs.
In 2018 they also added cryptocurrency trading, always without commission costs on exchanges.
Initially it offered crypto exchanges only in Bitcoin and Ethereum, and only to users in California, Massachusetts, Missouri, and Montana, but then it opened crypto trading to all US states except Hawaii and Nevada.
Later he also added exchanges for Dogecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic and Litecoin, and then for Shiba Inu, Solana, Compound, Chainlink and Polygon.
Technically Robinhood is a broker-dealer regulated by FINRA and registered with the SEC, and now has almost 11 million customers.
Most of the trading volumes on their platform are related to stocks and ETFs.
Non-custodial wallets
The really important thing about the new app is the fact that it is non-custodial.
Their traditional app for trading on classic assets such as stocks and ETFs can only be custodial, because stocks cannot be held in electronic format directly by users.
Instead, one of the main differences of cryptocurrencies is precisely the possibility for the user to have full ownership and control of their tokens.
This explains why Robinhood felt the need to launch a crypto wallet with its brand, since self-custody was not possible on their original app.
The main advantage of self-custody is that no matter what happens to the wallet, or to the person who created it, access to the funds on the blockchain can always be recovered using the private keys or the seed. The important thing is to keep these data safe, because anyone who gets hold of them can then take possession of the funds on the blockchain.
For example, in case of Robinhood’s failure, or if their non-custodial wallet were to stop working, funds can be recovered using the same private keys or the same seed on other non-custodial wallets.
Comments on Robinhood’s new Bitcoin wallet
Robinhood declares:
“This is just the beginning for Robinhood Wallet on Android. In the coming months, we will continue to add new features as we gather feedback from customers”.
The GM of Robinhood Crypto, Johann Kerbrat, commented saying:
“The launch of Robinhood Wallet on Android is a major step forward in our commitment to make cryptocurrencies more accessible and seamlessly integrated into the daily lives of millions of people around the world. Whether you are in Africa, Asia, South America, or elsewhere, Robinhood Wallet is your gateway to the future of finance and the world of cryptocurrencies and web3.”
