On April 27, at Consensus 2023, Robinhood announced the launch of “Robinhood Connect,” a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp service that supports decentralized applications (DApps) and self-custody wallets. As a competitor to services like Coinbase Pay and MoonPay, Robinhood Connect allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrency directly from their self-custody wallet or within DApps using a credit or debit card.
Integration with Web3 projects
Robinhood Connect integrates with Web3 projects, enabling developers to embed the service directly into applications. This feature allows users to access their Robinhood credentials within DApps without having to open the Robinhood website or app separately to log in and complete transactions. Currently, the service is available in the MyDoge, Giddy, and Slingshot ecosystems, with plans to support Exodus and Phantom in the future.
Johann Kerbrat, general manager of Robinhood Crypto, said in a company blog post that the service aims to bring more people into the cryptocurrency space, recognizing the potential for crypto and Web3 to reshape the future of finance. Robinhood is one of the few companies associated with traditional finance to enter the fiat-to-crypto service market.
Robinhood’s user base and assets under custody
As of January 2023, Robinhood reports having 23 million total user accounts and $74.7 billion in assets under custody. While its user base is significantly smaller than Coinbase’s 110 million verified users, its asset count is similar to Coinbase’s $80 billion in on-platform assets. In comparison, rival companies MoonPay and Webull have approximately five and 13 million users, respectively.
Alongside the debut of Robinhood Connect, the company also announced updates to the Robinhood app, including the ability to execute advanced orders via stop orders and stop limit orders. These developments follow the recent launch of Robinhood’s branded self-custody wallet on the iOS App Store, which currently has a 3.9-star rating and ranks 144th in downloads for the finance category.
