Robinhood Shares Fall as Crypto Trading Revenue Declines Sharply

The popular trading platform said reduced crypto trading activity led to significantly fewer new funded accounts and lower revenue in the third quarter.

AccessTimeIconOct 26, 2021 at 10:00 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 5:49 p.m. UTC

Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) shares fell about 8% in after-hours trading Tuesday after the zero-commission trading platform missed badly on revenue expectations as its cryptocurrency revenue fell sharply from the second quarter’s record high.

  • Robinhood said its crypto revenues fell to just $51 million in the third quarter, down from a record $233 million in the second quarter. The company said the reduced crypto trading activity led to significantly fewer new funded accounts and lower revenue in the quarter as compared to the second quarter.
  • Total revenue for the quarter was $365 million, short of analyst estimates of $437.1 million, according to FactSet. The company reported an adjusted net loss of $2.06 per share, versus analyst expectations of a loss of $0.67.
  • Robinhood said that over one million customers have signed up on the waiting list for its crypto wallet, which is one of its “most heavily requested products.”
  • The company also launched recurring crypto investments, allowing customers to automatically buy crypto, without paying commissions and on their own schedule.
  • On the company’s earnings call on Tuesday, CEO Vlad Tenev said the company was awaiting regulatory clarity before adding more cryptocurrencies to the seven that customers can currently trade – bitcoin, bitcoin cash, bitcoin SV, dogecoin, ethereum, ethereum classic and litecoin. “We’re going to be very careful,” Tenev said.
  • Previous speculation existed around Shiba Inu being added to Robinhood’s crypto offerings, though Tenev made no mention of this on the call.
  • The company also noted that the popularity of dogecoin contributed to millions of new accounts being added in the second quarter.
  • Robinhood went public on July 28 at an IPO price of $38 per share and closed down 8% on its first day of trading.

UPDATE (Oct. 26, 20:57 UTC): Updates share price and conference call commentary.

UPDATE (Oct. 26, 22:33 UTC): Adds comments from the earnings call.

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Michael Bellusci is CoinDesk's crypto reporter focused on public companies and digital asset firms.