Robinhood Bets Big on Crypto in Europe: Launches Staking

Although Robinhood may face enforcement actions in the United States for its cryptocurrency offerings, it is expanding its services in Europe further. Today (Wednesday), the brokerage has announced its first crypto staking services for Solana holders, which will be available only to its customers in Europe.

Robinhood's First Crypto Staking Service

Apart from staking, the American-headquartered brokerage firm is also launching its crypto investment app in three local languages in three European countries: Italy, Poland, and Lithuania. The move is very strategic, as these are the three top countries in the continent with Robinhood Crypto app downloads.

The brokerage's European crypto offerings were enhanced only six months after its launch on the continent. The platform is onboarding European Union users under its Lithuania-licensed entity.

“Since launching at the end of last year, our customers in Europe have told us loud and clear that they want an app that provides local language support and products that help them earn additional passive income,” said Johann Kerbrat, VP and GM of Robinhood Crypto.

The platform also revealed that Bitcoin (BTC), Dogecoin (DOGE), Solana (SOL), and Ethereum (ETH) are the favourites of its European users as they brought in the highest trading volume in the continent since launch.

Furthermore, Robinhood Crypto revealed that it is the first crypto trading platform for a third of its users in Europe.

Crypto Pays Off

Robinhood entered Europe last December with its crypto trading services, but it has been offering the same in the United States for years. However, on its home turf, the company has always been very cautious with its crypto-based offerings: the number of crypto listings is limited and it is not offering staking services.

Despite these cautious moves, crypto transactions remained a massive revenue booster for the brokerage. As Finance Magnates reported, the cryptocurrency revenue of the platform in the first three months of 2024 jumped by 232 percent to reach $126 million. The revenue was driven by the notional crypto trading volume in the quarter, which reached $36 billion, 224 percent higher.

However, earlier this month, Robinhood’s cryptocurrency trading arm received a Wells Notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission. In a subsequent public statement, Robinhood highlighted that it expects future regulatory actions to “involve a civil injunctive action, public administrative proceeding, and/or a cease-and-desist proceeding,” along with civil money penalties and limitations on activities.