Why Robinhood, a TradFi Hub, Is Growing Its Crypto Business Globally - Ep. 658

Robinhood has been in the spotlight for its $200 million acquisition of European crypto exchange Bitstamp. The TradFi app’s venture into crypto is paying off: its recent earnings showed that revenue is growing substantially, and the Bitstamp acquisition is just one way the company will grow the pie. Johann Kerbrat, general manager of Robinhood Crypto, came on the show to discuss the acquisition, Robinhood's plans for expanding its crypto business internationally and into the institutional market, the company's approach to listing crypto assets, how regulation has affected its business decisions, and its efforts to bridge traditional finance and decentralized finance. Show highlights: 02:14 How the acquisition of Bitstamp will reshape Robinhood 08:51 Whether Robinhood could list more coins and whether it’s considering more acquisitions 11:54 Whether the U.S.’s unclear crypto regulation influenced the decision to acquire Bitstamp and which other jurisdictions, besides the EU, Robinhood Crypto is eyeing 17:46 Why Johann was disappointed by the Wells notice Robinhood received from the SEC 20:47 Johann’s U.S. crypto regulation wish list and why Robinhood supports the FIT21 bill 24:09 Why Robinhood delisted ADA, MATIC, and SOL, and the process for listing or delisting a coin on the platform 29:49 Johann’s background in crypto and trajectory at Robinhood Crypto 31:35 How Robinhood is uniquely poised to help bring real-world assets and securities on-chain, and how it will handle offerings for institutional investors 37:48 The impact and importance of the introduction of spot bitcoin ETFs 44:26 Why Robinhood decided to offer staking, but only for Solana, not Ethereum 46:11 Whether there’s demand for crypto-native features in the Robinhood platform 48:26 Robinhood’s collaboration with Arbitrum and whether the company might build their own Layer 2 54:29 Johann’s take on the memecoin mania and whether Robinhood could list them 59:26 What Johann thinks about the political fight around crypto in the U.S. Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Thank you to our sponsors! Polkadot Guest: Johann Kerbrat, general manager of Robinhood Crypto Links Acquisition of Bitstamp:  Unchained: Q&A With Robinhood Crypto General Manager: Why the Crypto Giant Went to the EU Fortune: Robinhood defies the SEC by forking over $200 million for a crypto exchange DL News: Robinhood crypto head says Bitstamp will help lure wealthy investors Robinhood’s crypto business: Bloomberg: Robinhood (HOOD) Profit Beats Estimates as Crypto Revenue Surges Robinhood Reports First Quarter 2024 Results Regulatory actions: Reuters: Robinhood Crypto gets Wells notice from US SEC  Robinhood Crypto Launches Staking in Europe with Localized Apps to Follow Memecoin mania Unchained:  Celebrity Tokens Continue to Bleed With Some Memecoin Traders Losing Six-Figures  Why Memecoins Have Been 2024's Most Profitable Crypto Trade: Ansem and Kelxyz Ether ETFs: Unchained:  Ethereum ETFs Likely Protect Ether From the SEC. But What About Staked ETH?  Why the SEC May Not Be Done in Its Legal Battles Over Ethereum Kerbrat’s statement on ETFs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices