Cryptocurrency and stock trading app Robinhood has added a new feature to its suite of services that lets users gift digital currencies to friends and family. The option will be available to all customers of the platform starting December 22 (except those in Nevada and Hawaii, where the “Robinhood Crypto” service is not available at all).
Robinhood Wants to Help You Give Your Family and Loved Ones Cryptocurrency
Users will be able to send their loved ones as a gift of up to $1 in one of seven cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) and dogecoin (DOGE). The gift cards will have special designs and may include a message written by the sender. The company is not introducing any commission for gifting cryptocurrency to someone.
Once sent, the recipient has 14 days to accept the gift. If the funds are not accepted, the digital currencies are returned to the sender. If the recipient is a Robinhood customer, they will receive the gift within the app. If not, recipients can create an account and then claim the cryptocurrencies.
– Giving cryptocurrency is a great way for our customers to help remove the emotional and economic barriers for their friends and family who are taking their first steps into this world. – she told the media Christine Brown, Robinhood Crypto COO. – It is also an easy and quick gift for those who are already fans of cryptocurrencies. – she added.
Bloomberg first reported on the possibility of featuring digital currencies in the app earlier this week, with the journalists making initial assumptions based on code seen in a beta version of the iPhone app.
Robinhood Problems
Robinhood has also been struggling. In October, it said cryptocurrency investor activity had fallen from a record high in the previous quarter. The number of new accounts related to the digital asset also fell. That translated into significantly lower revenue in the third quarter of 2021 compared to the second quarter.
Robinhood ultimately reported $51 million in cryptocurrency trading revenue for the third quarter. That’s a whopping 860% increase from the $5 million in Q3 2020. However, it’s also down 78.1% from the $233 million in cryptocurrency revenue in Q2 2021.
