For years, buying and selling app Robinhood listed only a handful of cryptocurrencies. Over the previous month, it is introduced that quantity to 11, and it is now additionally making obtainable two equities belongings tied to the value of crypto.
As of right this moment, Robinhood customers should purchase and promote Grayscale Bitcoin Belief (GBTC) and Grayscale Ethereum Belief (ETHE) by way of the app.
GBTC and ETHE are funding merchandise that commerce like a inventory and permit traders to get publicity to the value of Bitcoin and Ethereum, respectively, with out really having to purchase them. Funding agency Grayscale takes care of the custody in change for a administration charge, and consumers get a “share” of Bitcoin or Ethereum—or one thing prefer it.
However whereas each GBTC and ETHE are ostensibly tied to the value of the underlying cryptocurrencies, they not often commerce on a 1:1 foundation. A part of the rationale for the distinction in worth is lengthy lockup intervals; when massive holders ultimately promote, it might have an effect on the value on the open market.
That discrepancy might assist clarify why Robinhood merchants—who haven’t got to fret about custody points as it’s—could also be within the belongings: They will get them for affordable and hope the hole closes.
In keeping with knowledge from Ycharts, ETHE is selling at a discount of 26.18% as of Friday, which means it is 26% cheaper to purchase ETHE than it’s to purchase Ethereum. GBTC, in the meantime, is trading at a 25.5% discount.
If the U.S. Securities and Trade Fee accepts Grayscale’s proposal to transition the Bitcoin belief right into a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund—that heavy low cost would doubtless disappear as ETFs’ construction permits them to commerce a lot nearer to the underlying asset’s worth. The SEC, nevertheless, has but to approve any Bitcoin-backed ETFs not based mostly on BTC futures, that are funding contracts based mostly on the anticipated future worth of Bitcoin.
Since Robinhood Crypto COO Christine Brown’s departure from the corporate on the finish of March, the brokerage has rolled out a number of main additions to its digital asset choices.
In April, it added Compound, Polygon, Shiba Inu, and Solana to its obtainable listings of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Money, Bitcoin SV, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Basic, and Litecoin. Per week earlier than, on the Bitcoin 2022 Convention, it introduced its intention to make use of the Lightning Community for sending faster, cheaper BTC transactions. It concurrently revealed that customers would be capable of switch their crypto belongings off of Robinhood—one thing the corporate’s govt had been promising since early 2021.
Cryptocurrency has been one of many few brilliant spots for the brokerage firm, which reported an 18% drop in revenue for Q1 and lately laid off 9% of its employees. Cryptocurrency income, although, was up from $48 million to $54 million for the quarter (however nonetheless down 39% from a year-to-year comparability).
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