Robinhood shares leap 14% on report FTX could also be exploring a deal

Robinhood shares jumped on Monday after Bloomberg News reported crypto alternate FTX was contemplating buying the buying and selling app.

The inventory soared 14% to its session excessive and was briefly halted after a report that FTX was discussing a takeover plan internally, however no provide has been made to Robinhood, Bloomberg News reported, citing folks conversant in the matter.

Robinhood declined to remark.

Last month, Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX, took a 7.6% stake in Robinhood value $648 million, based on a submitting with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The submitting mentioned Bankman-Fried acquired the shares within the perception that they “represent an attractive investment.”

FTX is without doubt one of the largest crypto exchanges on the earth and presents derivatives merchandise for extra subtle merchants in addition to spot buying and selling. FTX has change into a rival to Coinbase and Binance, although it would not provide its providers within the U.S.

In latest weeks, Bankman-Fried’s corporations signed offers to bail out small gamers within the crypto house. FTX agreed to supply crypto lender BlockFi with a $250 million revolving credit score facility. Alameda, his quantitative buying and selling agency, dedicated $500 million in financing to Voyager Digital, a crypto brokerage.

Robinhood attracted an enormous variety of retail buyers in the course of the pandemic buying and selling increase, whereas the younger dealer additionally skilled success when it rolled out its crypto buying and selling platform in 2018. Crypto buying and selling has since change into necessary for the corporate’s backside line when its inventory buying and selling exercise slowed down.

Last fall, Robinhood mentioned it was testing a crypto pockets and revealed that the waitlist for it had topped 1 million prospects.