In brief
- Coinbase shares jumped to an all-time high after the firm unveiled tokenized stock trading, an Ethereum layer-2 network, and perpetual futures trading.
- The company also enabled Ethereum and Solana staking for U.S. customers.
- During a crypto-focused keynote, CEO Vlad Tenev traded a digital version of OpenAI stock using the Ethereum layer-2 network Arbitrum.
Robinhood shares hit an all-time high on Monday after the trading platform unveiled tokenized stock trading for customers in Europe alongside its own blockchain network.
Robinhood shares jumped 11.25% to $92.37 on Monday, according to Yahoo Finance. Year-to-date, the company’s stock has rallied 148% from $39 in January.
The company said on Monday that users in Europe are now able to trade U.S.-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds on the Ethereum layer-2 scaling network Arbitrum as tokens, while the company will eventually unveil the service on its own Ethereum-compatible blockchain.
Meanwhile, Robinhood said that users in Europe will be able to stake Ethereum and Solana. Although the practice faced heightened scrutiny under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, the regulator recently said that staking doesn’t involve securities laws.
On Friday, Ed Engel, an analyst at investment bank Compass Point, wrote that tokenized stock trading could lead to “higher margin trading fees” for Robinhood’s digital wallet. He raised his price target for Robinhood stock to $96 from $64, while reiterating a “Buy” rating.
On Monday, Robinhood said that its European app is now completely powered by blockchain tech, between tokenized stocks, crypto trading, and perpetual futures. With a Markets in Crypto Assets, or MiCA, license, Robinhood said it can now service users in over 27 regions.
Crypto has become a larger part of Robinhood’s business since the company began supporting digital assets in 2018. In the second quarter, for example, Robinhood reported $252 million in crypto revenue, up 100% from the same period a year ago.
The features announced by Robinhood on Monday mirror those of other leading exchanges in the U.S., whether that’s Coinbase’s foray into the scaling network space with Base, or Kraken’s efforts to offer tokenized stock trading to customers in Europe through xStocks on Solana.
During a crypto-focused keynote event on Monday, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev showed how Arbitrum could be used to trade a digital representation of OpenAI stock. The transaction “did indeed succeed,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.
Edited by James Rubin
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