Robinhood has shifted its crypto strategy toward experienced traders, rolling out features and fee tiers designed to capture higher-frequency, higher-value activity as market volatility changes how customers trade.
The company reported roughly 3.9 million paid Gold subscribers and said crypto revenue grew 43%, with digital assets accounting for more than 35% of total net revenue in Q4 2025. Those figures underscore why product and pricing changes are now central to Robinhood’s push into advanced markets.
Robinhood introduced a slate of tools aimed at traders who treat volatility as opportunity rather than risk. The platform added tax-lot selection and custom cost-basis options to help frequent traders manage tax liabilities and implement strategies such as tax-loss harvesting.
It also expanded routing through seven liquidity venues and instituted fee tiers that can fall to as low as 0.03% (three basis points) for high-volume users—an explicit incentive for scalpers, arbitrageurs and other margin-sensitive strategies.
On the execution and instrument side, Robinhood bundled professional charting into its Legend offering, launched CFTC-regulated event contracts via a tie-up with Susquehanna International Group, and rolled out crypto perpetual futures in Europe with up to 7x leverage on assets including XRP, Dogecoin and Sui. In the U.S., staking for Ethereum and Solana provides a yield option for larger holders.
These products broaden the ways advanced users can express views without taking outright spot exposure, while also increasing the potential for amplified gains—and losses—when leverage is used.
Regulation, competition and financial impact
Johann Kerbrat, head of crypto at Robinhood, framed the pivot as a response to changing user cohorts: “a growing segment of sophisticated users is trading more frequently,” he said, noting younger, less experienced customers still favor buy-and-hold approaches. That characterization explains the company’s dual goal: retain novice entrants while preventing attrition as they graduate to more capable platforms.
But the strategy has tightened regulatory scrutiny. State-level actions—an investigation by Florida’s attorney general and Connecticut’s cease-and-desist over certain event contracts—highlight the compliance trade-offs of offering complex products to a broad customer base.
The June 2025 acquisition of Bitstamp strengthened Robinhood’s infrastructure and institutional footprint, which supported the revenue mix that helped net revenue double year-on-year to $1.27 billion despite a crypto revenue shortfall in Q3 2025.
For users and markets, the practical trade-off is clear: better tools and cheaper execution for advanced traders, coupled with greater product complexity and regulatory exposure for the platform. If Robinhood can keep advanced customers engaged without triggering enforcement actions or material consumer harm, the company stands to convert higher engagement into durable revenue.
Investors are now looking to whether state-level enforcement responses and the Bitstamp integration will determine the sustainability of this strategy and whether rivals that are also broadening product sets will blunt Robinhood’s ability to capture upgraded retail flow.
