Robinhood isn’t giving up on crypto despite Q3 crypto revenue down 12%

Crypto and stock trading platform Robinhood highlighted lagging cryptocurrency revenue in the third quarter of 2022, although the results will do little to dampen its ambition to serve the market, its CEO says.

The trading platform announced its third-quarter results on Nov. 2, with Robinhood executives pointing to a 12% quarter-over-quarter decline in monthly active users (MAUs) and a 24% quarter-over-quarter decline in theoretical volume. two of the main drivers behind a 12% drop in crypto revenue, reaching $51 million.

In an earnings filing, the company attributed the drop in active users and trading volume to “customers continuing to navigate the volatile market environment.”

Despite this, the company’s executives said they would continue to invest their resources in the crypto space, including rolling out support for more cryptocurrencies, a new international retail-focused wallet and NFT-related features on the platform.

Robinhood rolled out the beta version of its Polygon-based Robinhood Web3 Wallet to 10,000 customers on September 27, with more than 1 million on the waiting list. Robinhood also integrated Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin a day later.

During the conference call, Robinhood CEO Vladimir Tenev said the firm plans to offer the Robinhood wallet to its international retail base in the coming months.

When asked about Robinhood’s plans for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Tenev said they will likely integrate a feature to view and store NFTs in the near future. However, connecting to NFT marketplaces did not appear to be on Tenev’s radar in the short term.

Tenev also noted that “customers have requested that Robinhood add more blockchains to increase the breadth of coins available for them to exchange and trade.”

While Tenev noted that more coins were rolled out in Q3, he emphasized that Robinhood would not compromise on its vision to become “the safest, most trusted” cryptocurrency service provider:

“We hope that customers understand and appreciate that we are moving carefully […] Sometimes that means moving a little slower than many of these other crypto companies. But we want to be extremely aware and help protect our customers and their money.”

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Tenev also noted that Robinhood rolled out a free “Learn and Earn” cryptocurrency education program as a means to educate and retain a broader retail base for the long term.

As for Q4 2022, Robinhood’s said it will continue to make progress with the Robinhood Wallet, in addition to the Lightning Network integration.

Robinhood ended the quarter with a net loss of $175 million despite total net income increasing 14% to $361 million. While adjusted EBITDA was $47 million.

According to Investopedia, Robinhood’s net loss of $0.20 per share for the third quarter of 2022 beat estimates.

Robinhood’s ( HOOD ) stock price fell 4.36% to $11.40 on Nov. 3, and is down 69.22% over the past 12 months, according to Yahoo Finance.