By Alicia Maher
Robinhood shares have been facing a slump in value. Many believe these drops in price can be mitigated if the company increases the cryptocurrency options available to traders. The company offers financial services to corporate investors and also serves as a broker to retail traders. The company is popular for providing stocks that are popular among retail traders.
Robinhood right now offers only seven cryptocurrencies to its customers to trade. The share price of Robinhood has fallen over 60% from its highest price point in August. The price dropped from just over $70 to nearly $26, way below the price at its initial public offering.
There are a lot of factors that could be associated with this sharp price drop. One contributor is the fact that the restrictions of the pandemic are waning, so many people are going back to work, and hence, fewer people are engaging in the day trading of the instruments provided by Robinhood. The company saw massive profits in the second quarter of the year, largely due to its cryptocurrency portfolio.
During the second quarter, Dogecoin trading made up over 40% of the revenue generated by the company. This represented over 60% of the company’s revenue from trading cryptocurrencies. However, in the third quarter, cryptocurrency trading has reduced by almost 80%, accounting for less than 20% of the company’s revenue now.
Calls For Shiba Inu Listing
There has been a lot of calls online for the company to list the emerging meme coin. Over half a million people have even signed petitions for the cause. Some believe that the listing will have positive impacts on the share price of the company.
Earlier in November, the chief operating officer was questioned at a Yahoo event about the listing of Shiba Inu and the company’s roadmap to listing a token. She said that the effect of listing a token on their client base, in the long run, was a priority. She said that they were in no hurry to list tokens for short-term benefits.
TipRanks contributor Chris MacDonald believes that cryptocurrencies will play an important role if Robinhood succeeds in the long run. He says the company is working hard to achieve its goal of being the most used cryptocurrency exchange. He says that those who believe in the staying power of cryptocurrencies ought to look the company up.
Robinhood Wallet Launch
Like Chris MacDonald says, the company seems to be continually trying to improve. Robinhood had announced in September that the company would be launching its wallet built into its exchange. The announcement received a lot of interest as the company data shows that about 1.6 million people have joined the waiting list to use the feature.
The company was amongst very few other exchange platforms that didn’t offer a built-in wallet. The new feature will change that and allow users to enjoy the perks of the exchange without the need for a third-party wallet to hold their digital assets. Users have longed for this feature, so the long waitlist comes as no surprise.
The company has informed users that it will take the necessary measures to ensure that users’ assets held in their wallets are protected. The company had tested the wallet feature in November. The chief operating officer of the company, Christine Brown, in a tweet, showed a transaction of DOGE worth almost $100 from the Robinhood Wallet to a third-party wallet.