Skip to content
Luis Clark
- Home
- /
- USA & Crypto
- /
- Crypto Exchanges in USA
- /
- Robinhood Crypto Review 2023:...
Robinhood Crypto Review 2023: Security, Fees and Features
Luis Clark
- URL: https://robinhood.com
- Headquarter: Menlo Park, California, United States
- Year Founded: 2013
- Platform App: Desktop/Mobile/Web
- No. of Cryptos: 19
- Fiats Available: USD
- Withdraw Method: Bank account, debit card, crypto
- Payment Method: debit card, bank account
Robinhood crypto review: Our Opinion
Robinhood Crypto is best suited for expert traders who want to cut costs on fees and trade cryptocurrencies within the United States.
An Overview of Robinhood
Robinhood crypto was founded by 2 roommates at Stanford university – Baiju Bhatt and Vladimir Tenev. Upon graduation, the duo headed to New York City to sell their trade software to hedge funds, and there they found out that big-time Wall Street companies were paying little to nothing to trade stocks.
This was in opposition to what other Americans were being charged in commission on all trades. The result of this discovery gave birth to the desire in both founders to create a financial solution that would give everyone access to the financial markets. They headed back to California and built Robinhood on the 18th of April, 2013.
This is a trading platform that allows users to trade cryptocurrencies, stocks, ETFs, and options at no cost – while most crypto exchanges charge up to 4% in commissions to buy and sell, Robinhood charges 0%. The idea behind Robinhood is a cryptocurrency exchange for everyone.
Pros
- It offers commission-free trading
- User-friendly interface
- A one-stop shop for crypto or stocks investors
- It has a debit card
- Suitable for beginners
Cons
- Does not support mutual funds and futures trading
- Limited cryptocurrencies available
- It does not support any native crypto wallet
Key Features of Robinhood
Robinhood Wallet
Robinhood Wallet is a self-custody Web3 wallet that allows users to trade and swap crypto on the Polygon blockchain. The beta version of the wallet was launched in September 2022 and is only currently available to about 10,000 iOS customers.
The beta version of the Robinhood wallet only supports the Polygon blockchain. Robinhood intends to make the Web3 wallet a multichain wallet soon. Robinhood chose to host the wallet on Polygon because of its vast developer ecosystem, speed, low network fees, and scalability. It eliminates the complexities of Web3 and enables users to easily trade and swap cryptocurrencies. Users are not charged any network fees for trading and swapping crypto in the Robinhood Crypto Wallet.
Robinhood Wallet also allows Robinhood users to deposit and withdraw crypto on the Polygon network. Users can buy Polygon’s native token MATIC on the Robinhood app.
During the beta, Robinhood Wallet users can trade and swap crypto with no network fees, store and track their blockchain and earn crypto rewards. They can also fund their wallets With USDC as the primary fiat-representative token and also connect to decentralized applications to earn yield.
The Wallet is easy to use and had a mobile-friendly interface. Its integration with decentralized exchanges makes it easy for users to easily swap one crypto token for another via the 0x API on the Polygon network.
In terms of security, Robinhood Crypto Wallet offers good security. All customers are required to protect their wallets with two-factor authentication, face/touch ID, and a custom pin. Users are also required to have a secret recovery phrase or a seed phrase. That said, it’s important to note that the Robinhood Crypto wallet is a hot wallet, which means it is still susceptible to malicious attacks. It is less secure than a cold wallet.
While the Robinhood Crypto Wallet offers nice features, it has some limitations. First, just like the Robinhood Crypto exchange, the web3 wallet users can only buy and sell just 16 cryptocurrencies. This is extremely low when compared to other crypto wallets. The wallet may be perfect for beginners but not for advanced traders who want to buy and sell crypto across different blockchains.
Also, the only stablecoin supported by the wallet in its beta mode is the USD Coin (USDC). Robinhood customers can only fund their crypto wallets with USDC as a fiat representative token.
The Robinhood Crypto Wallet does not offer staking. This feature is available on major DeFi wallets like the crypto.com wallet. Wallet users are, however, able to connect to decentralized applications and earn yields on their crypto. The wallet does not have an NFT marketplace integration in its beta mode but the Robinhood team has assured that this feature will be available when the wallet is released to the public.
Robinhood Cash Card
The Robinhood Cash card is a debit card that offers cardholders weekly benefits and enables them to invest as they spend. Cardholders have access to over 90,000 fee-free ATMs. They can also earn rewards when they use the cash card and these rewards are used to purchase stocks or crypto on the cardholders’ behalf.
With the Robinhood Cash card, users can earn between 10 to 100% bonus on their weekly round-up. All of the bonus is then used to invest in the user’s choice of stocks and crypto. All bonuses are capped at $10 per week while Roundups are capped at $100 per week.
Robinhood users can also earn cash back when they make payments with the card on offers from participating brands. Users are not charged any monthly fees, overdraft fees, or in-network ATM fees for using the card. They are also not required to maintain a minimum balance.
The Robinhood Cash card is protected by Mastercard Zero Liability Protection and has up to $250,000 in FDIC insurance.
Robinhood Gold
Robinhood Gold features a suite of advanced tools, data, and features needed to take investing to the next level. Robinhood Gold members can earn 4% interest on their uninvested brokerage cash with a cash sweep. This is 2.5% more than what non-Gold customers earn. Without Robinhood Gold users only earn 1.5% interest on their uninvested brokerage cash.
Robinhood Gold users also have access to bigger instant deposits, level II market data from Nasdaq, margin investing at 7%, and professional research from Morningstar.
If you wish to become a Robinhood Gold member, you can try Robinhood Gold for free for the first 30 days. At the expiration of the free trial, you will be required to pay $5 monthly to access Gold’s premium features. Users can upgrade to Robinhood Gold from any platform.
Robinhood Gold is designed for all investors regardless of whether or not they wish to invest in Margin. If you are not interested in margin investing, you can disable margin investing when signing up for Gold. However, a margin may be required of users who are approved for options trading even if the Robinhood Gold margin investing feature is disabled.
Margin investing is available to users during the trial period. Users are charged 7% yearly interest on any amount they borrow over $1,000. Users are required to have a cash balance to be able to earn interest. The interest rates for margin investing and cash sweep fluctuate and can change at any time. Interests are calculated daily and charged to the user’s brokerage account at the end of each billing cycle.
Users who wish to downgrade from Robinhood Gold can do so by going to the account setting, opening the Robinhood Gold section, and clicking on “Cancel Membership”. Once you downgrade access to all premium features will be lost. Users who are currently using Instant Deposits over $1,000 will not be able to downgrade.
After canceling your Gold membership, ensure you cancel your subscription before the next billing date to avoid being charged for another 30 days of Robinhood Gold. Monthly fees will not be added if you downgrade in the middle of a billing cycle.
Also, the interest rate you can earn on invested cash will switch to the lower standard rate of 1.5% if you downgrade from Gold with the brokerage cash sweep feature enabled. If you downgraded from Gold while margin investing was enabled, you will begin accruing interest at the standard rate immediately. This means your interest will increase to 11% instead of 7%.
Cryptocurrencies Available on Robinhood
Robinhood supports the trading of 19 cryptocurrencies. Available cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, USD Coin, Dogecoin, Solana, Polygon, Stellar Lumens, Shiba Inu, Ethereum Classic, Avalanche, Uniswap, Litecoin, Chainlink, Aave, Tezos, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, and Compound.
Robinhood Fees
Robinhood crypto allows you to buy and sell cryptocurrency with no commission fees (crypto trading fees). That said, commission-free trading does not mean any revenue. Robinhood generates revenue as a cryptocurrency exchange by collecting a percentage of trades executed by market makers. This means that you’ll have to pay a higher market rate for digital assets. Robinhood also does not disclose its charges for order flow.
Also, Robinhood crypto recently launched its web3 crypto wallet that allows you to trade and swap crypto with no network fees.
For withdrawals, there are no fees for bank accounts, however, withdrawals via your debit card will trigger a 1.5% fee as it is an instant transaction. Robinhood also doesn’t charge a fee for sending money between users’ bank accounts and exchange account.
Payment Methods
Robinhood crypto offers 2 payment methods: bank account and debit card. Bank accounts allow you to make 5 payments per day into your Robinhood account. And you can transfer up to USD 50,000 daily into your Robinhood account.
For debit card payments, you can deposit up to USD 1,000 daily into your Robinhood account. You can withdraw up to USD 5,000 daily from your Robinhood accounts as well. All payments into your Robinhood accounts can only be done on business days.
Asides from the above 2 deposit methods, you can have your government deposits (tax refunds) or paychecks deposited right into your Robinhood cash accounts. There’s also the option to set up automatic deposits which enables you to place a consistent recurring deposit from your bank account to the Robinhood platform.
Security
Even though Robinhood is a member of the SIPC, Robinhood Crypto is not protected by the SIPC nor is it a member of FINRA or SIPC.
Every Robinhood account password is hashed using the Bcrypt hashing algorithm. The passwords are never stored in plain text rather they are stored in a scrambled format. This makes it hard for attackers to crack.
Also, all sensitive information like the user’s social security number is encrypted before storage. The Robinhood mobile app and web application securely communicate with Robinhood the server using the Transport Layer Security protocol, which has up-to-date ciphers and configurations. The Transport Layer Security protocol ensures that all users’ information is kept private. This includes both personal and account information.
Robinhood users can protect their accounts using two-factor authentication. 2FA is required whenever a user logs in to his account. Users are also required to verify their identity before making changes to their Robinhood account. Also, all accounts are protected with 2 FA for new devices.
Staking Rewards
At the moment, the Robinhood crypto wallet does not offer staking. However, the enterprise has stated that it will soon begin offering the feature.
Opening a Robinhood Crypto Account
To apply for a Robinhood account, you need to satisfy the following personal and technological requirements. For personal requirements:
- 18 years and above
- Have a legal US residential address within the 50 states or Puerto Rico. Robinhood may make an exception for active US military personnel stationed overseas.
- Be a United States permanent resident, a United States citizen, or have a valid American visa
- Have a valid social security number
In addition, Robinhood may not be available for residents of countries under United States sanctions. Residents of such nations will be required to provide a valid United States passport, immigrant visa, or permanent resident card.
For technology requirements, Robinhood’s mobile app is available on Android (Android 7 and above) and iOS (iOS 13 and above). Robinhood is also available on several web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari).
Once you have the following requirements available, you’re all set to get started.
Robinhood crypto wallet states that it takes just 4 minutes to create an account, which on first-hand use, turns out to be true. Robinhood also does not charge you for opening an account.
To get started, download and open the Robinhood mobile app on your iOS or Android device. You can download the mobile app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
Next, you’ll need to apply to the Robinhood app. The application will require you to provide personal data such as your financial details and tax ID. After a couple of days, you’ll get an email that either approves your application or requests additional information. If Robinhood requires identity verification the whole process may take up to 7 days.
That’s all. Once your account has been approved you can proceed to make a deposit using your bank account or debit card. However, after you’ve submitted your application you’ll be able to queue a single deposit before approval. If this occurs, the Robinhood platform will wait until your account has been approved before moving the queued deposit from your bank to their platform.
Trading Experience on Robinhood
Depending on the type of device you’re using, the Robinhood crypto trading experience varies.
iOS
- To buy a cryptocurrency on your iOS device go to the cryptocurrency’s detail page.
- Next, tap trade
- Then tap Buy
- After this, tap “Order Types” located in the upper right corner
- Choose your preferred order type
- Confirm the order
- Swipe to finalize the order
Android
- Go to the cryptocurrency’s Detail page
- Next, tap “Trade”
- Then tap Buy
- Next, hit Order Types in the upper right section
- Choose your preferred type of order
- Confirm the order
- Swipe to finalize the order
Web
- Head to the cryptocurrency’s Detail page
- Input the amount you want to buy in the order window on the right side of your screen
- Hit “Review”
- Confirm the order to finalize the purchase
When trading crypto via Robinhood, you’ll have access to only the following types of orders:
- Stop orders
- Limit orders
- Market orders
- Stop limit orders
You also have the option to add crypto to your watchlist by going to Search (the magnifying glass, entering your crypto’s name/symbol, and hitting + to add it. Next, pick a list.
Robinhood crypto also allows you to view the estimated buy and sell price for a particular cryptocurrency in-app. To do so, you just need to go to the Detail page of your specific crypto, then tap “Buy” or “Sell”. You should see the estimated buy and sell prices.
It’s important to state that cryptocurrency assets are not part of brokerage accounts. This is because brokerage accounts are with Robinhood Financial LLC which allows users to trade ETFs, options, stocks, etc. However, cryptocurrency trading is done via an account with Robinhood Crypto LLC.
Customer Service
The Robinhood customer support team can be contacted via Live Chat, email, and phone. The support team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Robinhood support page has a detailed guide on how to contact the support team via the web and mobile app.
Users who wish to contact Robinhood customer support via phone can request a phone call. After the request, the support team will send the user a notification when he is in line for the call. The support team will also give the user the phone number they intend to call with, this will enable the user to know it is the call is from the Robinhood team. This also enables the user to easily identify scam calls.
Users also gave access to view their support chat history. The chat history can be viewed in both the mobile app and on the web.
Customer Satisfaction
While Robinhood crypto is a great platform for traders, it has limited crypto features when compared with other, specialised crypto exchanges. Customers looking to do more than buy and selling of crypto prefer to do so from other crypto-focused exchanges.
That said, the Robinhood app is easy to use. It has a 4.0-star rating on Google Play Store and 4.2 stars on the Apple app store.
Does Robinhood Crypto Offer Education?
Robinhood offers 2 educational products: the Robinhood Learn platform, which offers general investment knowledge on topics like, What are ETFs, etc”. and the Robinhood Crypto Learn and Earn platform.
The Learn and Earn platform allows users to earn rewards for reading a quick lesson on a particular cryptocurrency token and then showcasing their learned knowledge by taking a quiz. If the user passes the quiz, they’ll get a reward.
To begin using the Learn and Earn platform, head to Browse then Learn within the app and choose a particular crypto token. The reward will be automatically deposited in your cryptocurrency account after getting confirmation that you’ve earned the reward. You may not be eligible for receiving rewards if you have restrictions on your crypto account, the rewards have expired, and the limited supply of rewards isn’t available.
Is Robinhood Right for You?
Robinhood Crypto is right for you if you want zero commissions on cryptocurrency trades and are a citizen of the United States. Citizens of other nations cannot use Robinhood as the platform requires your social security number and United States identification to sign up. If you’re looking to trade mutual funds, forex, or futures, Robinhood does not support such.
Final Thoughts
Robinhood Crypto is best for investors looking to trade digital assets without incurring trading fees. The platform is built more for investors with complex trading strategies than for those looking for simple buy orders. However, its biggest downside is that to use the exchange users must be United States citizens, which limits worldwide acceptability. Robinhood crypto is also separate from Robinhood Financial which offers products like ETFs and financial share trading.
If you want to know more about on Robinhood Competitors and other Crypto Exchanges, you can check out our list of the Best Crypto Exchange USA. You can also read about our Webull Review as an alternative to Robinhood.
FAQ
Most frequent questions and answers
Robinhood is worth it if you reside in the United States and want to trade cryptocurrencies for free. But if you’re looking for a large selection of cryptocurrencies and other crypto-related products like NFTs, staking rewards, etc. Robinhood Crypto isn’t the best option.
To withdraw crypto out of the Robinhood crypto wallet you must have set up 2-factor authentication on your account. Next, head to the crypto’s detail page, and tap Send. Enter the amount you intend to withdraw, then paste or type the crypto wallet address you want to send it to and hit Review and Submit.
If you want to withdraw from your cash balances (fiat currency) using your debit card, Tap Account then Transfers. Next, select to transfer money to your bank or card, enter the amount, Review the withdrawal, and tap Transfer. That’s it, you have successfully withdrawn from your cash accounts.
Coinbase offers a larger selection of cryptocurrencies and better crypto-related products than Robinhood crypto.
Robinhood does not support mutual funds or futures trading.
We always try to provide the most accurate information available, and make sure our team follow through.
If you want to know more about our Crypto Exchanges Review Methodology follow the link below
Skrumble.com provides all its content for informational purposes only, and this should not be taken as financial advice to buy, trade, or sell any investment instruments or products, including but not limited to cryptocurrencies, or use any specific exchange. Please do not use this website as investment advice, financial advice, or legal advice, and each individual’s needs may vary from that of the author. Investing in financial instruments, including cryptocurrencies, carries a high risk and is not suitable for all investors. It is possible to lose the entire initial investment, so do not invest what you cannot afford to lose. We strongly advise conducting your own research before making any investment decisions. This post includes affiliate links with our partners who may compensate us.
To view our privacy policy read here.
