Robinhood’s New Crypto Wallet Could Open Another Front in Fees War
Robinhood Markets
adds a feature to its cryptocurrency platform that could make it a bigger player in the crypto world and force rivals to cut fees. The broker announced on Wednesday that it will start testing a so-called crypto wallet next month. Robinhood shares rose more than 12% for the week on Thursday, before sliding on China’s crypto crackdown.
Robinhood currently only allows users to buy and sell crypto assets. This makes the service more focused on price speculation than on peer-to-peer transactions. Adding a wallet means users can easily move assets in or out of the app, or between them.
The online broker is best known for stocks and options, but crypto is becoming more and more important. Digital assets made up more than half of its transaction revenue in the last quarter, with Dogecoin alone accounting for 26% of total revenue. Robinhood’s crypto expansion may put pressure on player fees such as
Global Coinbase
and
PayPal funds
,
just as the rise of Robinhood caused brokers to cut stock commissions to zero.
Just because Robinhood is commission free doesn’t mean its service is free. Robinhood makes money with crypto just like it does with stocks and options: it sends trades to market makers who complete the trades, take a share of the spread, and then return a remittance to Robinhood. The size of a gap is a mystery; unlike stocks and options, Robinhood does not have to report the encrypted payment for the order flow, as it does for stocks. At this time, much of crypto is outside the purview of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Next week
Monday 27 9/27
TotalEnergies
hosts a two-day investor meeting to discuss its energy and strategic outlook. The company recently changed its name from Total to reflect a new push in clean energy and also set a goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
The census office publishes durable goods report for August. New orders of manufactured durable goods are expected to rise 0.6% month over month to $ 258.7 billion, following a 0.1% decline in July. Excluding transport, new orders rose 0.5%, less than the previous rate of 0.8%.
Tuesday, September 28
IHS Markit and Micron Technology publish their quarterly results.
secretary of the treasury Janet Yellen gave the keynote address at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the National Association for Business Economics. The theme for this year’s conference, which runs September 26-28, is âShocks, Changes and the Emerging Economic Landscapeâ.
The conference council publishes its consumer confidence index for September. The consensus estimate is for a reading of 114.5, roughly even with the August figure.
S&P CoreLogic releases the Case-Shiller National Home Price Index for July. Economists are forecasting a 20% year-over-year jump, which would be the index’s fourth consecutive record monthly increase.
Wednesday 9/29
Cintas
publishes the results for the first quarter of fiscal 2022.
Generac Holdings is virtually hosting its 2021 Investor Day. CEO Aaron Jagdfeld is among the members of the management team who will discuss growth opportunities for the company.
The national association of Realtors releases its Pending Home Sales Index for August. Expectations are for a 1% month-over-month increase, following a 1.8% drop in July.
Thursday 09/30 /
CarMax
,
Jefferies Financial Group
,
McCormick and Paychex declare their profits.
Intuit
virtually organizes its investor day 2021.
Novartis
organizes an investor event to discuss its ESG initiatives.
The Institute of Supply Management releases its Chicago Purchasing Managers Index for September. Economists are forecasting a reading of 64.7, about two points lower than the August data.
Friday 1/10
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports personal income and expenses for the month of August. Revenue is expected to increase 0.3% month over month, while spending is expected to increase 0.7%. This compares to gains of 1.1% and 0.3%, respectively, in July.
The census office reports construction spending data for August. The consensus estimates that construction spending will increase 0.4% month over month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $ 1.58 trillion.
Write to Avi Salzman at [email protected]