Robinhood Releases Crypto Wallets to Two Million Waitlisted Users

Key Insights:

• Robinhood took a bigger leap into the crypto market this week, issuing crypto wallets to 2m waitlisted users.
• In January, Robinhood made crypto wallets available to just 1,000.
• The wallet release will see increased crypto activity and likely greater regulatory scrutiny.

At the end of December, Robinhood announced the planned launch of the Beta crypto wallet for Q1 2022.

Robinhood started by supporting the deposit and withdrawal of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Dogecoin (DOGE).

Having seen user numbers surge to more than 20 million by 2021, Robinhood is taking aim at the market share of the major crypto exchanges, including Binance and Coinbase.

In January, Robinhood initially released its beta version to 1,000 waitlisted users.

Robinhood Releases Crypto Wallets to Two Million Waitlisted Users

This week, Robinhood released crypto wallets to all eligible persons on the WenWallets waitlist of more than two million.

Robinhood’s Chief Product Officer, Aparna Chennapragada, announced the news at the Bitcoin 2022 Conference underway in Miami.

Taking to Twitter, Chennapragada tweeted,

“Super pumped to announce on the #Bitcoin2022 stage that @RobinhoodApp has rolled out wallets access to the nearly 2 million people on the WenWallets waitlist.”

Super pumped to announce on the #Bitcoin2022 stage that @RobinhoodApp has rolled out wallets access to the nearly 2 million people on the WenWallets waitlist.

— Aparna Chennapragada (@aparnacd) April 7, 2022

According to the tweet, there were some restrictions. Users in Hawaii, New York, and Nevada are unable to access crypto wallets due to local regulations.

Chennapragada added,

“We are also working to add the ability to transact on the Bitcoin Lightning Network, so customers can send & receive BTC in seconds, for pennies instead of dollars.”

At the time of writing, Robinhood supports the buying, selling, and real-time market data for Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin SV (BSV), Dogecoin (DOGE), Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), and Litecoin (LTC).

Robinhood Could Face Increased Regulatory Scrutiny

The news is positive for the crypto market, with Robinhood offering a competitive alternative to established crypto exchanges.

Regulatory scrutiny has been on the rise since the rollout of the beta version. With the U.S government, the SEC, and other agencies looking to ramp up crypto oversight, Robinhood will need to navigate the regulatory quagmire.

To compete with Binance, Coinbase, and others, Robinhood will also need to increase its crypto offering from 7 cryptos.