When I first watch the CNBC interview with Robinhood's Chief Brokerage Officer Steve Quirk and I heard him say what he did I will admit it did not necessarily click with me all the way. I understood from the standpoint that Robinhood had made a ton of money on crypto transactions, especially Doge but beyond that, it really was a little hard to wrap my head around. Looking back over what was said and reading up on it though more and more things began to clear up and make more sense to me. 

Before I continue I am going to shamelessly plug my referral code for Robinhood due to their limited-time deal that runs for another day! If you sign up with my code not only do you get added to the crypto wallet waitlist (full rollout for all is happening by the end of next month) but also get the company shares you receive will be worth at least $5 but all the way up to $200! All that has to be done is sign up and connect your bank account for the share to appear in the rewards tab! Now back to the meat of the article!

Compared to other more mature trading platforms Robinhood does offer fewer stock options since they only have a small section of Over the Counter and have stopped letting you purchase Closed-End Funds or reinvesting the dividends. I am sure that this was done to help streamline the skyrocketing number of users as it happened over a year ago but it lead to me to exit some of my positions. Robinhood's limits to just certain markets like the Nasdaq, DOW, S&P 500, among major US markets highlights some issues Robinhood would face.

That issue is something that Robinhood really cannot do anything about and it is time. The US markets are open during the workday in the US meaning that if they expand to Europe the US markets would open 5 hours after the typical workday would start in London. Since the markets are not open 24/7/365 that hampers the ability of international investors from getting involved if Robinhood only allowed access to the US markets. They could, in theory, create geographical locked areas for access to different markets but this adds an extreme level of complexity and even with this some areas would not really have mature markets like the US does opening up young investors to heavy losses quickly. 

Instead of trying to build all of this out from scratch with no known idea of how it will be received Robinhood is pivoting to something that they know has worldwide demand and that they can easily roll out. All that they need to do is create a basic "template" so to speak that can be easily adapted and implemented worldwide. By creating basic infrastructure and a simple set of coins and ways that it can be adjusted for government regulation they create a plug-and-play sort of idea.

This also shows why they have stuck with the same coins since launch. Once the wallets are rolled out global expansion should be something that is relatively easy to accomplish. Robinhood with the products that they already offer is already in contact with regulators worldwide so with these contacts they will be able to know what the regulators want. Further by being a publically traded company, their books are open and investors and regulators know about the flow of orders and who is behind the accounts. While many crypto purists will hate this as it ruins their anonymity these people are not who the platform is after.

The platform is after people who are very green to the sector and are wanting to explore. This will allow them to dip their toe in as they learn and have a safe and structured environment to learn. Now that the wallets are supposed to be rolled out to all users by the end of March it will be super interesting to see if new coins are brought on board. The comment about SHIB being added dealt with regulatory uncertainty and I expect that the Executive Order from President Biden due out soon will clear the air enough for the possible addition. This EO I believe could lead to a cascade of future additions as long as the wallet rollout is not only safe and secure but successful! 

Please know I am not a financial advisor I am just someone who picked up on a trend and wanted to express it! Makes sure you always do your own research and never invest money you cannot afford to lose! If you enjoyed this article and would like to further support me below are a couple of referral links that if you used when signing up I would appreciate it! Also, follow me on Twitter @Cje95_

Robinhood

Currently, Robinhood is offering an amazing deal where you can choose 3 different companies you want fractional shares of when you sign up using the link here and connect your bank account! You also are added to the crypto wallet waitlist and like always both stock and crypto trading is commission-free! 🤝 

Fold App

Offers daily wheel spins to win free sats daily! If you sign up for Fold with my link here you will get 5,000 sats for free!  

Unstoppable Domains

Sign up using my link here and get a free $10 credit towards your first $40+ purchase! 

Coinbase

Sign up for Coinbase and earn $10 of free Bitcoin when you buy or sell $100 in crypto with my referral here!

SMiles

If you are like me and walk to work every day this app rewards your walking with Sats! So far I have earned over 4,000 sats in just a couple of months walking to work! Here is my link!