Robinhood
Robinhood is a United States brokerage founded in 2013 and best known for commission-free stock trading. Through Robinhood Crypto it also lets customers buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency in the same app, and it supports transfers to and from a self-custody Robinhood wallet. Its parent, Robinhood Markets, has traded publicly on the Nasdaq under the ticker HOOD since 2021. The key thing to understand about the crypto side is custody: it is a custodial venue, and the SIPC protection that covers securities does not cover cryptocurrency.
- Founded
- 2013, United States, by Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt2013 · source
- Public listing
- Robinhood Markets began trading on the Nasdaq as HOOD2021-07-29 · source
- Crypto assets
- Buy, sell and withdraw 40+ cryptocurrencies; supports a self-custody Robinhood wallet · source
- Custody / insurance
- Custodial; crypto is not FDIC insured and not SIPC protected · source
Robinhood Crypto: what it is
Robinhood started as a commission-free stock and options broker, and crypto is a feature inside that same app rather than a separate exchange. Robinhood Crypto lets you buy, sell and hold dozens of coins — the roster includes majors such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin along with a growing list of others — next to your stocks and cash. For people who already use Robinhood to invest, it is the path of least resistance into crypto.
Unlike the earliest version of the product, which trapped coins on the platform, Robinhood now offers a self-custody Robinhood wallet and lets you withdraw crypto to external addresses, so assets are not locked in. It remains, at its core, a US broker that added crypto — not a crypto-native exchange — and its coin selection and features reflect that.
Robinhood crypto fees
Robinhood advertises crypto trading with no separate commission. The way it makes money on those trades is a spread — a small markup built into the price you pay or receive — rather than a line-item fee, so the cost is real but less visible than a maker-taker schedule. On buys and sells this typically works out to a fraction of a percent on major coins.
Two other costs matter. Moving crypto out to an external wallet means paying the underlying blockchain network fee, which Robinhood passes through, and Robinhood has historically charged a flat fee to transfer crypto positions off the platform to another provider. For an occasional buyer the commission-free framing is genuinely cheap; anyone moving assets around should check the current transfer and network charges first.
Is Robinhood Crypto safe?
The most important safety point on Robinhood is a custody one that is easy to miss. Robinhood is a member of the SIPC, but that protection applies to securities in your brokerage account — it does not cover cryptocurrency. Robinhood states plainly that crypto held with it is neither FDIC insured nor SIPC protected, so the federal backstop people associate with the Robinhood name stops at the edge of the crypto product.
On the company side, Robinhood Crypto holds customer coins custodially and says it keeps the majority in cold storage, and the parent is a US-listed public company that files with the SEC. The residual exposures are the usual ones for a custodial venue: you are trusting Robinhood to hold the keys, and your own account can be targeted by phishing. Its one major security event to date was a 2021 data breach — covered in the incident record below — which exposed personal data but not funds.
Incident record
On the evening of 3 November 2021 an unauthorised third party socially engineered a customer-support employee by phone and gained access to certain support systems, affecting about 7 million customers. The attacker obtained email addresses for roughly 5 million people and full names for a separate group of about 2 million; around 310 people had additional details (name, date of birth, zip code) exposed and about 10 had more extensive account details. Robinhood said no Social Security numbers, bank account numbers or debit card numbers were exposed, and there was no financial loss to customers. The attacker then attempted extortion.
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Frequently asked
Is Robinhood Crypto safe?+
Robinhood holds crypto custodially and says most is in cold storage, and its parent is a US-listed public company. The key caveat is insurance: Robinhood's SIPC membership covers securities, not cryptocurrency, and crypto held there is not FDIC insured either. As with any custodial venue, you trust Robinhood with the keys and your account can be phished.
Does Robinhood let you withdraw crypto?+
Yes. Unlike its earliest crypto product, Robinhood now supports crypto withdrawals to external addresses and offers a self-custody Robinhood wallet, so coins are not locked to the platform. Withdrawals incur the blockchain network fee.
What are Robinhood's crypto fees?+
Robinhood markets crypto trading as commission-free and earns instead through a spread built into the price — usually a fraction of a percent on major coins. Separately, moving crypto off the platform incurs network fees, and transferring positions to another provider has carried a flat fee. Check current charges before moving assets.
Was Robinhood hacked?+
In November 2021 an attacker socially engineered a support employee and accessed customer support systems, exposing personal data for about 7 million customers — mostly email addresses and names. Robinhood said no Social Security numbers, bank or card numbers were taken and there was no financial loss to customers; the attacker then tried to extort the company.
What changed
- 2026-09-28Profile created: 2013 founding and Nasdaq listing, the crypto-in-a-broker model and self-custody wallet, fees, the SIPC-does-not-cover-crypto custody point, and the November 2021 data breach with a funds-not-affected verdict.