Robinhood shifts focus to digital assets as it plans ‘bulletproof’ wallet

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Trading app Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) is to turn its focus towards more crypto assets and developing a digital currency wallet, though the timing for the move remains uncertain.

The announcement came as part of its Q2 earnings report, which saw the company report significant losses from the most recent quarter—despite an uptick in digital currency trading through the platform.

CEO Vlad Tenev said that in particular, the Dogecoin community had been showing an interest in a wallet from Robinhood, though the execution was proving to be challenging.

“I know there’s been a ton of enthusiasm from the crypto community and the Dogecoin community in particular in getting access to wallets.”

Tenev continued, suggesting there were plans for support for more coins to come in the near future. At present, Robinhood users can only trade a limited subset of digital assets through the platform, accounting for just a small fraction of what is possible in the wider digital currency ecosystem.

Despite the pledge for the future, Robinhood’s stock price plummeted more than 10% during that day’s trading ( Last Thursday), following the revelation of a $502 million loss in the second quarter alone. At press time, Robinhood stock remains low at $45.29, still way down from the all-time high of $70 per share.

The losses emerged after Robinhood was forced to secure emergency funding following a frenzy of meme trading on the platform. The news was a further blow to the trading app after its Nasdaq debut last month, which has seen the once widely praised firm descend into rapid sell-offs as investors abandon the platform.

Some 60% of Robinhood accounts with funds in them traded in crypto in the quarter, with more new customers making their first trades in digital currency rather than shares. Of the digital currency trading volumes handled through the platform, some 60% was in Dogecoin.

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