Robinhood’s self-custody wallet is now available to all iOS users worldwide. This comes 5 months after the launch of the wallet in beta.
Wallet is received positively
In September, the crypto wallet was launched for the 10,000 users who signed up for the waiting list in May 2022. In January, the company expanded the beta to one million users. According to Johann Kerbrat, the CEO of Robinhood Crypto, the reception of the wallet has been very positive.
Kerbrat also noted that users have said they love the app for its accessibility and ease of use, as well as the ability to store and trade their digital assets themselves without any network fees.
Added support for new crypto coins
At launch, only the Ethereum layer-2 network Polygon was supported by the wallet. Users were able to buy Polygon’s native token, MATIC, on the Robinhood Crypto platform and transfer it to the wallet. The company also promised direct access from the wallet to DeFi applications.
Robinhood has now added Ethereum and several ERC-20 tokens, including the stablecoin USDC, to its support. It also allows users to store non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Ethereum and Polygon. There is no charge for exchanging tokens on Polygon through the wallet. Kerbat noted the following:
Users told us they want access to more crypto coins on more blockchains, so we quickly added support for Ethereum.
Robinhood Crypto Hit Hard
The new app is launched after a drastic drop in trading volume for Robinhood Crypto. Between October last year and the end of the year, volume was down about 80%, while assets under management were down about 37%. The number of users on the platform also decreased by 36% to 12.5 million in total. The California-based company was also hit (hard) by the bear market during this period. Although an increase was recorded in January, the company is still well below its 2021 high.
Despite these challenges, Kerbrat has emphasized that Robinhood remains committed to digital assets. He stated the following:
While acknowledging that it’s been a tumultuous few months in the crypto space, we remain committed to our mission to make Robinhood the most trusted, cheapest and easiest to use gateway to crypto.
Although this app has initially been rolled out for iOS users, it is expected that Android will receive the same upgrade in the relatively short term.
