Robinhood stock slips despite new license

Robinhood Markets (Nasdaq: HOOD), which handled $17.5 billion in crypto trades in August, saw its stock slip more than 4% despite winning a new license.

Popular among young retail traders, Robinhood is a commission-free trading platform that lets users buy and sell cryptocurrencies, stocks, options, prediction markets, and tokenized equities from a single app.

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Robinhood wins Dubai license

On Oct. 22, Robinhood announced that it has received authorization from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to launch its retail investing platform in the Middle East next year.

The DFSA is the financial regulatory agency overseeing the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a special economic zone in Dubai.

The platform will offer 10 DFSA-approved asset classes, including equities, cryptocurrencies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and investment tokens.

“The DIFC is one of the world’s most important financial hubs, and our expansion there brings us closer to building a global platform that enables anyone, anywhere to own the highest quality financial assets,” said Robinhood Chairman and CEO Vlad Tenev.

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The platform will operate from its DIFC hub and be led by Robinhood MENA's senior executive officer and president Salah Kaddoura.

“From our new home in Dubai’s premier financial hub, we’re looking forward to building Robinhood’s regional presence and expanding access to the global financial ecosystem for a new generation of investors,” Kaddoura said.

Robinhood launched full operations in the European Union in 2025 and received in-principle approval to offer brokerage services in Singapore in April 2026.

Despite receiving the Dubai license, the Robinhood stock slipped more than 4% to trade at $97.45 at the time of writing.

How big Robinhood is in crypto

Crypto is one part of a wider business. Robinhood earned $100 million from cryptocurrencies in the second quarter, down 38% from a year earlier, out of $1.31 billion in total net revenue.

Trading volume is larger. Robinhood handled $17.5 billion in crypto trades in August, up 61% from July but down 38% from a year earlier.

Most of that came through Bitstamp, a crypto exchange Robinhood bought in June 2025 for about $200 million. Bitstamp handled $10.1 billion in August, against $7.4 billion on the Robinhood app.

Bitstamp is one of the world’s longest-running crypto exchanges, with more than 50 licenses worldwide. Its trading is mostly from institutions, meaning large firms rather than individual users.

In July, Robinhood launched Robinhood Chain, its own blockchain built on Arbitrum, a network that runs on top of Ethereum. It lets people trade crypto and other assets directly on the network.

The chain also runs Stock Tokens, digital versions of stocks that trade around the clock. They are available in Robinhood Wallet to eligible users in more than 120 countries, though availability varies by location.

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