History
Robinhood was founded in April 2013 by Vladimir Tenev and Baiju Bhatt, who had previously built high-frequency trading platforms for financial institutions in New York City. The company is named after Robin Hood, based on its self-stated mission to "provide everyone with access to the financial markets, not just the wealthy".[9][10] They aimed to design a mobile app that was free, easy to use, and addictive.[9][11] Tenev and Bhatt served as co-CEOs from 2013 to 2020, when Tenev became the sole CEO and Bhatt became chief creative officer.[12][13]
The founders presented the mobile app at LA Hacks in April 2014 and launched a beta release in December on the Apple App Store.[14] The mobile app was launched officially in March 2015.[9][15][16]
In February 2018, the company announced that it would be moving its headquarters from Palo Alto to the former headquarters of Sunset magazine in Menlo Park.[17] That same month, Robinhood launched cryptocurrency trading.[18][19][20][21]
In March 2019, Robinhood acquired MarketSnacks, a financial newsletter.[22] Robinhood launched banking products with insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation via partner banks in December 2019.[23][24]
In the second quarter of 2020, during the 2020 stock market crash, compared to the first quarter of 2020, trading volumes increased 139%, more than any other major brokerage.[11] In March 2021, Robinhood acquired Binc, a recruiting firm.[25] In July 2021, the company went public and was listed on Nasdaq.[26][27]
In August 2021, Robinhood completed the $140 million acquisition of Say Technologies, a company that helps shareholders vote proxies and ask questions of management.[28] In December 2021, Robinhood acquired Cove Markets, a developer of cryptocurrency trading platforms.[29]
In April 2022, Robinhood cut its workforce by 9%.[30] In August that year, the company announced additional layoffs of 23% of its workforce, mostly in operations, marketing and program management.[31][32] The following June, Robinhood announced additional layoffs of 150 employees or about 7% of its staff.[33][34]
In June 2023, Robinhood completed the $95 million acquisition of X1, a credit card issuance startup.[35][36] In December 2023, Robinhood acquired Chartr, a publisher of a daily financial newsletter.[37]
In March 2024, Robinhood acquired Marex FCM, a broker of futures contracts.[38] Robinhood also expanded its services to the United Kingdom.[39][40][41] The following month, Robinhood launched its "Sherwood News" website and a rebrand of its financial newsletter Snacks.[42] In July 2024, Robinhood acquired Pluto Capital, an AI-powered investment research platform.[43] In November 2024, Robinhood completed the $300 million acquisition of TradePMR, a wealth management platform.[44][45]
In March 2025, Robinhood announced the launch of wealth management services.[46] The following month, the Bank of Lithuania granted the company a brokerage license to operate in Lithuania.[47] Soon after, Robinhood received its MiFID and MICA licenses, allowing Robinhood Europe to operate as a cryptocurrency exchange.[48] In May 2025, Robinhood completed the $180 million acquisition of WonderFi, a cryptocurrency trading platform.[49]
In June 2025, the company launched trading in tokenized ETFs and stocks in the European Union.[50][51][52] Robinhood also completed the $200 million acquisition of Bitstamp, a cryptocurrency exchange.[53]
