News
Robinhood (HOOD) Plans to Offer Cryptocurrency Futures in Europe and the U.S.
Robinhood Markets, Inc. HOOD is considering offering cryptocurrency futures in the U.S. and Europe in the near future, Bloomberg first reported, citing people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the plans are not yet public.
According to the people, once HOOD completes its previously announced $200 million acquisition of Bitstamp Ltd. next year, the trading platform will likely use the cryptocurrency exchange’s licenses to offer perpetual futures on Bitcoin and other tokens in Europe.
Additionally, HOOD is planning to launch CME-based futures for Bitcoin and Ether in the US.
Plans are subject to change as the conversation is ongoing. A Robinhood spokesperson said, “We have no imminent plans to launch these offerings.”
Robinhood has made several efforts to expand its exposure to cryptocurrencies. In November 2023, the trading platform announced that it would launch cryptocurrency trading in the European Union and brokerage operations in the United Kingdom.
Currently, HOOD has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see Full list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
In particular, since the approval of U.S. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) in early 2024, demand for futures has increased.
On January 10, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) approved rule changes to allow the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States. This was a turning point for the cryptocurrency markets, which had been under regulatory scrutiny for some time.
For years, the SEC has warned of the risks of the largely unregulated cryptocurrency markets, rejecting several cryptocurrency-based investment applications and imposing fines for alleged cryptocurrency scams.
However, the SEC’s decision to allow spot Bitcoin ETF trading marked a shift in how cryptocurrencies were perceived and traded by investors.
This February, Franklin Resources, Inc. BEN has become the eighth cryptocurrency company to file for an Ethereum spot ETF.
In November 2023, Black rock BLK filed with the SEC for a spot Ethereum ETF called iShares Ethereum Trust, which saw the price of Ethereum rise to its highest level in a year, before falling.
In June 2023, BLK became the first asset manager to apply for a spot Bitcoin ETF, paving the way for a wave of inquiries from other asset managers.
Notably, including BEN, all of the companies that were competing to introduce Ethereum spot ETFs launched Bitcoin spot products in January.
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