American financial services company Robinhood is testing a crypto wallet that will allow customers to send and receive cryptos like Bitcoin (BTC/USD). A report unveiled this news on September 20, citing new features in the beta version of the company’s iPhone app. Reportedly, the software features a hidden image, showing a waitlist page for users that have signed up for a crypto wallet feature.
According to the report, the app also has code that refers to crypto transfers. This wallet would allow users to seamlessly use various digital currencies without having to convert them into dollars. On top of this, users will enjoy extra security for their assets by protecting them with a private key and two-factor authentication (2FA).
Proving that Robinhood customers have been waiting eagerly for the platform to launch a crypto wallet, the company’s shares (HOOD) jumped as much as 2.1% following this news to hit $41.54. However, the stock has since lost bullish momentum and has slipped back to $40.70 at the time of writing. Nonetheless, HOOD is up 16.89% year-to-date, with most of these gains coming after the company conducted an initial public offering in July.
Although Robinhood currently allows users to buy and sell leading cryptocurrencies, such as BTC, Ethereum (ETH/USD), and Dogecoin (DOGE/USD), this move would let them manage all their holdings through a wallet in the app. With this initiative, Robinhood will join other companies, such as Coinbase and Gemini, which already offer crypto wallets.
The DOGE community demanded the crypto wallet
Per Vladimir Tenev, Robinhood’s CEO, the company’s developers have for a long time prioritized adding a crypto wallet to the Robinhood app. In the company’s Q2 earnings call, Tenev noted that DOGE enthusiasts, in particular, demanded the crypto wallet feature.
Explaining why the company took a long time before it started to work on the crypto wallet, Tenev said,
The ability to deposit and withdraw cryptocurrencies is tricky to do with scale, and we want to make sure it’s done correctly and properly.
The company has not yet shared when the crypto wallet will go live, but the support and testing on the app indicate the rollout might come soon.
This news comes after Robinhood disclosed that its crypto business accounted for approximately 41% of its net revenue in Q2, 2021. The 41% represented $233 million, and DOGE transactions made up 62% of this amount. This, perhaps, explains why the company is prioritising the demands of the community behind the meme-inspired crypto.
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