Why Robinhood, a TradFi Hub, Is Growing Its Crypto Business Globally - Ep. 658

Jun 11, 2024

Johann Kerbrat, the General Manager of Robinhood Crypto, shares insights on Robinhood's ambitious acquisition of European exchange Bitstamp. He discusses the expanding global crypto business and how it plans to bridge traditional and decentralized finance. Kerbrat addresses U.S. regulations, including the impact of SEC notices, and explains the careful processes behind listing and delisting crypto assets. He also highlights Robinhood's goal to tokenize real-world assets, improving user experiences with innovative features like self-custody wallets.

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INSIGHT

Robinhood's Crypto Success

Robinhood's Q1 2024 earnings revealed significant growth in crypto-related revenue, assets under custody, and trading volume.
This growth underscores the success of Robinhood's venture into the crypto market and sets the stage for further expansion.

INSIGHT

Bitstamp Acquisition Strategy

The Bitstamp acquisition will accelerate Robinhood's international expansion, particularly in the EU, UK, and Asia.
It will also mark Robinhood's entry into the institutional crypto market, leveraging Bitstamp's existing relationships and infrastructure.

INSIGHT

Robinhood's Crypto Revenue Model

Robinhood primarily operates on a payment for order flow model, referred to as "rebates" in the crypto context.
Orders are routed to market makers, generating revenue based on volume.

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Robinhood has been in the spotlight for its $200 million acquisition of European crypto exchange Bitstamp. The TradFi app’s venture into crypto is paying off: its recent earnings showed that revenue is growing substantially, and the Bitstamp acquisition is just one way the company will grow the pie.

Johann Kerbrat, general manager of Robinhood Crypto, came on the show to discuss the acquisition, Robinhood's plans for expanding its crypto business internationally and into the institutional market, the company's approach to listing crypto assets, how regulation has affected its business decisions, and its efforts to bridge traditional finance and decentralized finance.

Show highlights:

02:14 How the acquisition of Bitstamp will reshape Robinhood
08:51 Whether Robinhood could list more coins and whether it’s considering more acquisitions
11:54 Whether the U.S.’s unclear crypto regulation influenced the decision to acquire Bitstamp and which other jurisdictions, besides the EU, Robinhood Crypto is eyeing
17:46 Why Johann was disappointed by the Wells notice Robinhood received from the SEC
20:47 Johann’s U.S. crypto regulation wish list and why Robinhood supports the FIT21 bill
24:09 Why Robinhood delisted ADA, MATIC, and SOL, and the process for listing or delisting a coin on the platform
29:49 Johann’s background in crypto and trajectory at Robinhood Crypto
31:35 How Robinhood is uniquely poised to help bring real-world assets and securities on-chain, and how it will handle offerings for institutional investors
37:48 The impact and importance of the introduction of spot bitcoin ETFs
44:26 Why Robinhood decided to offer staking, but only for Solana, not Ethereum
46:11 Whether there’s demand for crypto-native features in the Robinhood platform
48:26 Robinhood’s collaboration with Arbitrum and whether the company might build their own Layer 2
54:29 Johann’s take on the memecoin mania and whether Robinhood could list them
59:26 What Johann thinks about the political fight around crypto in the U.S.

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Guest:

Johann Kerbrat, general manager of Robinhood Crypto

Why Robinhood, a TradFi Hub, Is Growing Its Crypto Business Globally - Ep. 658

Robinhood's Crypto Success

Bitstamp Acquisition Strategy

Robinhood's Crypto Revenue Model

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