|

Robinhood Avoids Piling Into Digital Asset Treasuries Despite the Hype — Here’s Why

👨‍🏫

Robinhood will not be leaping to affix corporations placing crypto on their steadiness sheets, signaling a wait-and-see method at the same time as the treasury playbook spreads throughout public markets.

On the third-quarter earnings call, incoming CFO Shiv Verma stated the firm is “nonetheless enthusiastic about it.”

He famous that Robinhood values “alignment with the group” and is a serious venue for crypto buying and selling. Yet, the finance workforce should weigh whether or not including Bitcoin or different tokens to the steadiness sheet is the proper use of capital for shareholders.

Robinhood’s broader crypto enterprise, in the meantime, continues to increase.

The buying and selling platform reported that Q3 transaction-based income climbed 129% from a yr earlier to $730m, powered by a pointy rebound in digital asset exercise. Crypto income reached $268m, up greater than 300% year-on-year, serving to the firm surpass Wall Street earnings forecasts.

While DATs Expand, Robinhood Focuses On Flexibility Over Hype

Further, Verma sketched the trade-offs. Holding tokens could please customers, he stated, but it surely ties up capital that may very well be deployed elsewhere. He identified that shareholders can purchase Bitcoin straight on Robinhood. The brief model, he added, is that there are professionals and cons, and the firm will hold evaluating the concept.

The stance contrasts with the rise of digital asset treasury corporations, or DATs. MicroStrategy’s playbook, which included convertible notes, at-the-market fairness gross sales and most popular inventory to fund ongoing purchases, helped construct a reported Bitcoin stash price greater than $70b by mid-2025.

That mannequin impressed followers resembling Metaplanet in Japan and Semler Scientific in the US.

Critics Say Treasury Crypto Rush Risks Becoming An Exit Strategy For Insiders

By trade tallies, company holdings have grown sharply since 2020, spreading from a handful of early movers to greater than 100 companies. Allocations stay dominated by Bitcoin, whereas some treasuries have added Ether and Solana as liquidity improved.

Not everyone seems to be satisfied. Columbia Business School’s Omid Malekan not too long ago argued that digital asset treasuries have morphed right into a “mass extraction and exit occasion,” saying some packages seem designed to complement insiders relatively than construct lasting worth.

He pointed to promotional decks heavy on buzzwords and skinny on element, alongside strain techniques throughout fundraising.

Market context has turned harder as nicely. Bitcoin slipped under $100,000 this week for the first time since June and, at about 20% off its October peak, entered a technical bear market. Total crypto market worth has fallen by greater than $1 trillion from the highs, a backdrop that makes steadiness sheet bets tougher to justify for boards and danger committees.

Robinhood’s Strategy Centers On Capital Efficiency As Treasury Flows Stall

Liquidity from company consumers additionally seems to be patchier. Coinbase’s David Duong stated activity from treasury buyers has been quiet since the Oct. 10 drawdown, describing a lull in purchases over the previous two weeks and an absence of clear re-engagement.

For Robinhood, the calculus leans towards optionality. The agency already earns buying and selling and custody revenues with out taking value danger by itself steadiness sheet. Verma’s feedback recommend administration needs flexibility to deploy capital into development initiatives, whereas holding the door open if circumstances or technique change.

Shareholder alignment stays the anchor. Verma stated the workforce weighs whether or not holding tokens is the “finest use of our capital,” and repeated that prospects who need publicity can purchase straight via the platform.

The publish Robinhood Avoids Piling Into Digital Asset Treasuries Despite the Hype — Here’s Why appeared first on Cryptonews.

Similar Posts