According to data from Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analytics company, Robinhood, the commission-free brokerage, holds more than $3 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC), totaling over 118,000 BTC. This places Robinhood as the third-largest BTC address, following cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Bitfinex, as indicated by information from BitInfoCharts.
The leading single BTC wallet is a cold wallet address belonging to Binance, containing over 249,000 BTC, which is valued at around $6.5 billion in the current market. The second-largest is Bitfinex’s cold wallet, holding over 178,000 BTC, equivalent to approximately $4.7 billion. A different Binance cold wallet, with over 115,000 BTC worth $3 billion, secures the fourth spot after Robinhood.
The speculation about the owner of the BTC holding had persisted for months until it was attributed to Robinhood. Initially, the address was linked to crypto exchange Gemini and BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. BlackRock’s application for a crypto exchange-traded fund with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in June triggered a wave of similar applications from other industry players.
According to BitInfoCharts, BTC started being sent to the address now linked to Robinhood on May 8, 2020, with the last transfer recorded recently.
Despite the substantial increase in its crypto holdings, Robinhood has been experiencing a decrease in digital asset trading on its platform. In July, the platform’s cryptocurrency trading volume dropped by 38% to $3.4 billion compared to the same month in 2022. Additionally, revenue from cryptocurrency transactions fell by 18% to $31 million in the second quarter of 2023. This decline coincided with a drop of one million monthly active users, bringing the total to 10.8 million.
Mixed Outcomes
However, Robinhood achieved its fifth consecutive quarter of revenue growth, with revenue rising by 10% to $486 million in the last quarter. Notably, the company also attained its first Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) profitability during this period.
In legal matters, Robinhood experienced mixed outcomes. While it lost a case against the Massachusetts Secretary of State, Bill Galvin, at the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, it emerged victorious in a lawsuit brought by a group of investors. These investors had taken the platform to court over trading restrictions imposed during the meme stock frenzy in 2021.
