Robinhood Gives Users a New Way to Fund Their Web3 Wallets

The popular trading platform Robinhood Markets (HOOD) has unveiled "Robinhood Connect," a new feature for users to fund their Web3 wallets without having to leave a decentralized app (dapp) or be in their crypto accounts.

Robinhood Connect will also let developers embed the feature directly into their dapps, so that Robinhood users can buy, transfer and fund their self-custody wallets, the company announced at CoinDesk's Consensus 2023 conference in Austin, Texas. "With the introduction of [Robinhood] Connect, customers will be able to access their Robinhood credentials and bypass additional steps," the firm said in a statement.

Robinhood Connect is already live with MyDoge, Giddy and Slingshot wallets, while integration with other wallets such as Exodus and Phantom are coming soon, Johann Kerbrat, general manager of Robinhood Crypto, said during "A New Crypto Arrow in Robinhood’s Quiver" – a live conversation with CoinDesk Reporter Ian Allison – at Consensus 2023.

Read full coverage of Consensus 2023 here.

Widespread access to Web3 has significantly progressed as more people adopt crypto and its related products into their daily activities. However, the complexity of accessing the technology has been among the main hurdles for further expanding use of Web3-related applications. Robinhood is aiming to address this challenge with its rollout. "Crypto and Web3 have the potential to change the future of the financial system for the better, but we recognize there are still significant hurdles preventing broader adoption," Kerbrat said.

"Our conviction in the future of Web3 remains strong, and we’ve continued to build new products that put the accessibility and usability of crypto front and center for customers, positioning Robinhood as the lowest cost, easiest to use on-ramp to crypto," he added.

The trading platform is also revamping its Robinhood Crypto, its own app to buy and sell crypto with a zero commission fee. Some of the new features in the app will include advanced charts which customers can use to finetune their trading strategy, allowing users to add stop and stop-limit orders as well as pricing alerts based on users' trading strategies.

The company said during its fourth-quarter earnings call that it has started rolling out its wallet to more than one million wait-listed users. Robinhood also noted that its transaction-based revenue for cryptocurrencies fell 24% from the previous quarter to $39 million.

Robinhood's direct crypto competitor, Coinbase (COIN), already has some of the features embedded into its wallet. The crypto exchange's users can have a fiat on-ramp within the wallet itself and access to several tokens and dapps in the app.

UPDATE (18:30 UTC, April 27): Changes headline and subtitle

UPDATE (17:59 UTC, April 27): Adds video from Consensus 2023 and corrects that the live event was on StageX at Consensus 2023.

UPDATE (17:49 UTC, April 27): Adds quotes from the live event at Consensus 2023.

UPDATE (17:34 UTC, April 27): Adds comments about existing and futures partners with Robinhood Connect.