Robinhood to let customers maintain their very own crypto and NFTs because it reaches for development past inventory buying and selling

Robinhood is handing over the keys to a few of its prospects’ crypto.

The buying and selling and investing firm introduced Tuesday it’ll let customers maintain and custody their very own cryptocurrencies and NFTs in a separate, stand-alone app. It’s the most recent transfer within the digital asset area for Robinhood because it reaches for development past inventory buying and selling. The firm shares are off greater than 70% since its IPO.

The new app will put Robinhood squarely in competitors with Coinbase and start-ups like MetaMask. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong referred to as his firm’s product probably the most downloaded, cellular self-custody pockets within the U.S. in a tweet Monday.

The app will let customers retailer non-fungible tokens, and connect with NFT marketplaces and “decentralized” inventory exchanges. It will even let customers earn yield by way of different platforms and entry a “variety” of crypto belongings on different exchanges, Robinhood mentioned.

Who holds, or “custodies,” somebody’s cryptocurrency has grow to be a contentious query within the {industry}, fueling the viral phrase “not your keys, not your coins.” Some worry storing belongings on an alternate makes them extra weak to hacks, or censorship. 

Robinhood, which topped final 12 months’s CNBC Disruptor 50 record, made its identify by providing commission-free inventory buying and selling. Its worth and person base soared in the course of the pandemic because it ushered in a brand new technology of merchants. The firm additionally grew to become the middle of the meme-stock saga after limiting buying and selling in GameStop, the extremely shorted identify Reddit merchants purchased in defiance of Wall Street brief sellers.

The buying and selling enterprise has slowed considerably over the previous 12 months. For the three months ended March 31, Robinhood’s income fell 43% from a 12 months in the past. Since its public debut in August, shares have plummeted greater than 70% and are greater than 88% off of the all-time excessive. 

In an effort to spur income and person development, Robinhood has been including extra cryptocurrency merchandise and options, and in late March it added prolonged inventory buying and selling hours. It launched an earlier model crypto of wallets to prospects in April, which is able to nonetheless be obtainable throughout the core Robinhood app.

“We believe that crypto is more than just an asset class,” Vlad Tenev, Robinhood’s co-founder and CEO mentioned in a press launch. “By offering the same low cost and great design that people have come to expect from Robinhood, our web3 wallet will make it easier for everyone to hold their own keys and experience all the opportunities that the open financial system has to offer.”

Robinhood mentioned the brand new pockets will roll out with a waitlist first and can be obtainable internationally.

The new app notably will not cost community charges, regardless of Ethereum and bitcoin charges operating at $70 in some circumstances. A Robinhood spokesperson mentioned the crypto product will depend on third-party liquidity suppliers “competing” for patrons’ transactions behind the scenes, to be able to offset these community charges.

Robinhood makes most of its income off of transaction charges in its core buying and selling enterprise, by way of a brokerage-industry apply referred to as cost for order movement.

— CNBC’s Jesse Pound contributed reporting.