Online retail investment platform Robinhood has launched its long-awaited cryptocurrency wallet for beta testing, which will finally allow users to withdraw crypto from the platform.
The first 1,000 users who signed up for the “Wallets” waiting list can participate in the beta test. Wallets testers will be able to withdraw cryptocurrencies worth up to $2,999 in a maximum of 10 daily transactions.
Robinhood is a financial services platform backed by Citadel Securities that offers cryptocurrency and stock trading. Buying crypto users from Robinhood have been waiting for the Wallets to launch since mid-2021, when the waiting list was created. The latest public count of waitlist sign-ups revealed by Brown stood at 1.6 million in November, or about 7% of its total user base.
Although the current limit of testers is limited to 1,000, the company plans to increase the limit to 10,000 by March. A January 20 announcement from Robinhood stated that:
“Beta testers will help us test core functionality and provide critical feedback to inform the final version of the product.”
Wallet testers will need to perform Know Your Customer (KYC) identification if they are not current Robinhood users and use a two-factor authentication app.
Robinhood’s director of cryptocurrency operations, Christine Brown, has tweeted today that while the Beta program is underway, the company will work “to finalize the send and receive flows and add lovely QR scanning experiences, improved transaction history, and block explorer support.”
Over the duration of the Beta program, we will be working to finalize the send and receive flows and add delightful QR scanning experiences, improved transaction history, and block explorer support so you can see your transactions on-chain—and more!https:/ /t.co/db5afxwQWx
— Christine (Hall) Brown (@christine_hall) January 20, 2022
Until the launch of Wallets, any cryptocurrency purchased on the platform could not be withdrawn or privately stored, essentially making it a crypto transaction in name only.
Now, however, Robinhood’s growing crypto division is starting to look like a fully-fledged crypto exchange that the company says will “fully connect Robinhood crypto holders to the largest blockchain ecosystem for the first time.” “
Many of their traders choose Dogecoin (DOGE) as their currency of choice. DOGE accounted for 41% of total Robinhood revenue in Q2 2021 and 19% in Q3. There are also rumors that the company will list Shiba Inu (SHIB), as Robinhood co-founder Vlad Kardapoltsev recently commented on the growing number of SHIB token holders.
Brown has stated that the inclusion of SHIB will depend on regulatory feasibility.
Robinhood (HOOD) stock price has fallen to an all-time low of $13.50 in post-trading.
