Robinhood’s Crypto Trading Volumes Decline

Robinhood’s (HOOD) crypto trading volumes took a steep hit in February,
tumbling 29% from the previous month in a retail-trader-led decline
that might carry a message for other platforms including Coinbase (COIN).

The month-over-month drop to $14.4 billion outpaced declines in equities
and options trading, which each fell 1%. Even so, the figure was more than
double the year-earlier level, the company said in a press release.

The figure shows how trading dropped off as the cryptocurrency market slid.
Bitcoin (BTC) lost about 15% of its value last month and the broader CoinDesk
20 Index (CD20) fell by around 23%. Across centralized cryptocurrency exchanges,
spot trading dropped 19% to $2.3 trillion in February compared with January,
CoinDesk data shows.

Memecoin activity also eased, with leading token launchpad Pump.fun seeing
daily token launches plunge to 24,000 from 62,000, according to 10x Research.

The slowdown in cryptocurrency trading volumes suggests lower retail interest
in the space and could have implications for other exchanges including
Coinbase (COIN), which caters to a similar audience.

Shares of Robinhood, a retail-focused trading platform that also offers equities,
have dropped 4% this year. Coinbase, in contrast, has fallen 15%, in line with
the broader crypto market retreat.

Coinbase has, however, been expanding its institutional services and blockchain
infrastructure business, which could help offset some of the impact from
weaker retail trading. The company recently announced the introduction of 24/7
bitcoin and ether futures trading.