Robinhood has officially gotten into the Crypto game. They're offering zero free trading on crypto within the same stock trading app.
I was just granted access to Robinhood crypto! I've been in the waitlist for a while now, and I'm super excited to finally be able to trade on the platform.
Although Robinhood has had a list of about 10 currencies you can monitor (OMG, XMR, & more), they've only launched trading for 2 - Bitcoin and Ethereum. You still get the same 24/7 access to the market available with any other exchange. However, the big drawback at the moment is that you cannot transfer out the BTC or ETH you purchase on Robinhood. They have announced plans to setup this feature at some point, but have not proposed a timeline. Also, you cannot transfer crypto you've purchased elsewhere into your Robinhood "wallet". Robinhood claims to have restricted this to "prevent money from illegal activity being used for transactions on Robinhood Crypto". So, at the moment, the only options are Buy/Sell.
Speed
Although it is basically just a platform for buying and selling, Robinhood offers immediate access to crypto. Unlike coinbase with a week long turnaround for crypto, any market buy you place on Robinhood is available instantly!
Zero Fees
Oh yeah - it's free! The same way robinhood had changed the world of investing by offering free stock trading, they've decided to do the same with crypto! Even when doing a market buy, you will never be charged a fee. Take that, coinbase!
Limit Orders
Just like other exchanges, Robinhood allows you to make the market by placing limit orders. Given the fact that you have immediate access to funds, this is a great way to take advantage of market fluctuations.
Looks
Also, it just looks good!
Community Forum
For better, or worse, Robinhood has decided to add a live chat to the crypto trading pages. Things can get... Interesting.
Overall, it's a great simple to use platform that should get many of the crypto curious onboard. However, for those who have been in the space for a while are probably less likely to care (unless it drives prices up). My main concern is that supposed "wallet". It seems that either Robinhood didn't know how to make a functional wallet, or just doesn't get how the whole game works. A wallet that you can't transfer coins in or out of seems a bit sketchy. They're really treating it like any other stock in that they're just focused on the buying and selling. But hey, they gotta make money too, right? It just seems a bit suspect to be buying currency that you truly don't have access to... They seem to be asking us to trust them quite a bit. From a community that is generally distrustful of financial organizations to begin with, this may be asking too much.
But for now, I'll be trading small amounts on there just to take advantage of the zero fee 24/7 market!
If you haven't downloaded the Robinhood app yet, feel free to use my referral link and we'll both get a stock like Apple, Ford, or Sprint for free: https://share.robinhood.com/garyg213. You will have to sign up for the cryptocurrency waitlist separately. When you're approved, you just need to update the app, and you're set!
