Robinhood attracted $15.1 billion in customer deposits despite weaker crypto trading. Equity, options and margin activity supported Robinhood’s diversified business. Gemini’s exchange revenue
Robinhood’s customers continued moving money into the brokerage in October, even as cryptocurrency trading declined sharply. Gemini, meanwhile, reported a smaller quarterly loss but remained under pressure from falling exchange activity and a costly operating structure.
The disclosures, published November 12, reveal different financial consequences of the same industry slowdown. Robinhood has a growing securities and lending business alongside its cryptocurrency operations. Gemini is relying on cost reductions and newer financial products to offset weaker trading revenue.
Robinhood reported $15.1 billion in net deposits during October, more than double September’s $6.1 billion, according to its monthly operating update.
The inflows arrived even as total platform assets declined to $383.2 billion from $395.9 billion. Net deposits represented approximately 3.8% of the previous month’s asset base, providing a measure of customer funding activity independent of the change in reported portfolio values.
More revealing was the performance of Robinhood’s other businesses.
Equity trading volume reached $325 billion, up 2% from a year earlier, while options activity increased 8% to 289 million contracts. Margin balances climbed 39% to $22.9 billion, expanding the pool of customer borrowing on which the brokerage can earn interest.
Those figures help explain why weaker digital-asset trading does not necessarily translate into a comparable decline in Robinhood’s overall revenue. Securities transactions, options activity and margin lending generate different income streams, with borrowing balances particularly important to net interest revenue.
Cryptocurrency trading volume fell 48% year over year to $17.0 billion. Bitstamp contributed $10.2 billion, leaving $6.8 billion attributable to Robinhood’s original consumer application.
The acquired exchange therefore accounted for 60% of the company’s reported crypto activity, reflecting how Robinhood’s digital-asset business has changed since its expansion into institutional trading infrastructure.
Gemini’s third-quarter financial results showed revenue declining 19% year over year to $40.9 million.
Exchange revenue dropped 47% to $13.4 million as spot trading volume contracted 73% to $4.5 billion. The gap between the decline in exchange revenue and total sales reflects the growing contribution of Gemini’s services business, including its credit-card operations.
Reported exchange revenue was equivalent to approximately 0.30% of spot trading volume. That calculation provides a useful measure of revenue intensity across the reported activity, although it is broader than a simple posted trading fee.
The composition of volume also deserves attention. Gemini disclosed approximately $1.2 billion in transactions between external customers and its affiliated market maker, representing nearly 27% of quarterly spot turnover.
Gemini’s monthly transacting user count stood at 577,000. Its trading activity improved modestly from the second quarter, partly supported by institutional demand for Zcash, but the recovery remained insufficient to restore the previous year’s revenue base.
Gemini reduced quarterly operating expenses by 30% to $119.9 million, following workforce reductions and lower spending on compensation and marketing.
Its operating loss stood at approximately $79.0 million, while adjusted EBITDA improved to a loss of $11.6 million from a $74.0 million loss in the second quarter. The improvement indicates that cost reductions and changes in the revenue mix are producing a measurable effect on the company’s adjusted operating performance.
However, adjusted EBITDA excludes certain expenses and is not equivalent to operating cash flow. Gemini’s $194.1 million cash balance at the end of September provides a separate measure of liquidity, alongside the company’s financing arrangements and future spending requirements.
Credit-card expansion has introduced additional risks. Gemini recorded a $9.2 million provision associated with card-related credit losses, demonstrating that a broader financial-services business can generate revenue while also requiring capital for credit exposure.
The company now faces a difficult allocation decision: continue funding new products and distribution infrastructure, or preserve cash while waiting for cryptocurrency trading to recover.
Robinhood reported 5.9 billion event contracts traded during October, up 136% from a year earlier. The increase adds another source of customer engagement to its brokerage platform, although the contract count is not directly comparable with dollar-denominated trading volume.
Gemini is approaching the same market through infrastructure. Its proposed relationship with Apex Fintech Solutions would allow event contracts to reach customers through external brokerage channels, potentially expanding distribution without requiring Gemini to acquire every end user directly.
The agreement remains non-binding, leaving the timing and economics of any resulting business uncertain.
For Robinhood, the next question is how much of its growing securities, lending and event-contract activity converts into revenue. Gemini faces a more immediate test: sustaining its improvement in adjusted profitability while rebuilding trading activity and protecting its liquidity position.
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