Interview with Robinhood's CEO: How Will the Acquisition of Bitstamp Reshape Robinhood?
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Interview with Robinhood's CEO: How Will the Acquisition of Bitstamp Reshape Robinhood?
Robinhood Crypto's General Manager Johann Kerbrat discussed the acquisition, how Robinhood plans to expand its cryptocurrency business into international and institutional markets, the company's approach to listing crypto assets, how regulation impacts its business decisions, and more.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsGuest: Johann Kerbrat, General Manager of Robinhood Crypto
Translation: Peyton
Robinhood has drawn significant attention for its $200 million acquisition of Bitstamp, a European cryptocurrency exchange. The traditional finance app’s push into crypto is paying off—recent earnings reports show strong revenue growth, and the Bitstamp acquisition is just one way the company is expanding its market share.
Johann Kerbrat, General Manager of Robinhood Crypto, joined the show to discuss the acquisition, how Robinhood plans to expand its crypto business internationally and into institutional markets, its approach to listing crypto assets, how regulation shapes its business decisions, and its efforts to bridge traditional finance with decentralized finance.
How the Bitstamp Acquisition Will Reshape Robinhood
For Robinhood, this acquisition brings three major changes. First and perhaps most importantly, it accelerates our international expansion in the crypto market. Second, as previously mentioned, we will integrate a globally scaled crypto exchange into Robinhood. Third, this marks the beginning of our first institutional business.
Bitstamp already holds over 50 active licenses and registrations, which will help us attract customers from the EU, the UK, and Asia. On the institutional side, this is a key development. Robinhood has historically focused on retail, while Bitstamp has earned trust among institutions due to reliable trade execution, API connectivity, and services like crypto-as-a-service, institutional lending, and staking. This means Robinhood will enter the institutional space with an established, trusted, and active business already embedded in the market.
The market needs more trusted exchanges. Over the past five years, various incidents involving competitors have highlighted the need for credible players. With Bitstamp’s regulatory licenses and its built-up trust with regulators, combined with Robinhood’s resources, we believe we can build a strong and reliable trading platform for the future.
Will Robinhood List More Cryptocurrencies, and Are More Acquisitions Being Considered?
In the short term, we don’t expect significant changes. Bitstamp has operated effectively within the regulatory frameworks of the countries where it operates. Maintaining numerous licenses requires close relationships with regulators and a demonstrated history of compliant operations. Therefore, we don’t anticipate quickly changing their operating model.
Regarding new token listings, we have a comprehensive framework that evaluates factors such as security, technology, and market liquidity. Currently, this acquisition hasn’t prompted any immediate changes to our listing strategy. However, we continuously assess opportunities to add more features and products to our platform, especially in the U.S.
Did Unclear Crypto Regulation in the U.S. Influence the Bitstamp Acquisition Decision, and Which Jurisdictions Is Robinhood Crypto Targeting Beyond the EU?
One reason we’re focusing on the EU is the clarity offered by the MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation) framework, set to take effect in 2024. This framework will create a single market nearly as large as the U.S. population, with a clear regulatory structure we can follow. Such clarity is essential for operating efficiently and in compliance.
If the U.S. had similar regulatory clarity, we would also seek full compliance and work closely with regulators. In the EU, even though some details of MiCA are still being finalized, it represents a major step forward for the industry. As a French citizen, I’m very excited about this EU development, and I hope the U.S. adopts a similarly clear regulatory approach.
Why Johann Is Disappointed About the Wells Notice Robinhood Received from the SEC
Translator’s note: A “Wells notice” is an informal warning issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before initiating civil proceedings against a public company. Companies receiving such a notice can communicate and negotiate with the SEC before formal litigation begins.
We don’t want to share too much about what happens between us and regulators, but ultimately, the reality is that the SEC Chair invited crypto companies to come and register. He said it was just a process to follow. When that announcement came out years ago, we complied and registered. We’ve met with the SEC multiple times, which is why we were surprised and disappointed by the Wells notice. If there’s one company in the U.S. that has worked with regulators, it’s Robinhood. We’re regulated and licensed by the SEC and FINRA for our brokerage business, and for our crypto operations, we work with the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS), one of the strictest crypto regulators in the U.S. We know how to work with regulators and tried to do the right thing when asked to register. We’re disappointed, but we’ll continue engaging with them because the industry needs clarity. We’ll keep working to deliver the products our customers want while maintaining dialogue with the agency.
Johann’s Wishlist for U.S. Crypto Regulation, and Why Robinhood Supports the FIT21 Bill
Clear rules are critical. In the past, we’ve seen competitors commingle corporate funds with customer assets. At Robinhood, we’ve always prioritized safety—even if it meant moving slowly. This cautious approach has allowed us to maintain a stable and trustworthy platform.
Additionally, we need greater clarity on what constitutes a security. Due to regulatory ambiguity, many industry participants face the same challenge. Regulatory enforcement alone isn’t a viable solution—we need clear rules and comprehensive legislation that spells everything out.
Why Robinhood Delisted ADA, MATIC, and SOL, and How Tokens Are Listed or Removed from the Platform
We have a comprehensive token listing framework that includes various analyses, including operational assessments. The SEC’s allegations created uncertainty around these tokens and our way of operating, leading us to decide to delist these assets. Regulatory clarity would greatly benefit the industry. Robinhood isn’t just an exchange—we need a combination of reputable market makers and equity providers to offer buy and sell options for these crypto assets.
Johann’s Background in Crypto and His Career Path at Robinhood Crypto
I’ve always been involved at the intersection of payments and cryptocurrency. My career began by founding my own startup focused on these areas. I’ve always been passionate about both fields. The technical side is very appealing, but as an engineer, it’s easy to get overly focused on technical details. In crypto, this can be problematic because we often focus too much on underlying technology and forget about user-friendliness. My role allows me to stay technically engaged with the team while also expanding accessibility in crypto and removing entry barriers. Initially, I joined Robinhood as CTO of the crypto business, and a few years ago, I transitioned to General Manager. This shift streamlined decision-making and enabled us to move faster than before.
How Robinhood Is Uniquely Positioned to Help Tokenize Real-World Assets (RWA), and How It Approaches Product Offerings for Institutional Investors
If any company is uniquely positioned in tokenization, it’s Robinhood. We’ll continue advancing in this area because we believe crypto and blockchain technology can connect traditional finance with the modern financial landscape. Blockchain has the potential to reduce costs and address issues previously observed in the industry. In the coming years, we aim to make significant progress in this direction, delivering better traditional financial products to our customers.
The Significance of Spot Bitcoin ETFs for the Market and Bitcoin Itself
Bitcoin’s legitimacy has been strengthened. Ten years ago, people saw Bitcoin as just internet money—not something serious. Now, with Bitcoin ETFs and major institutions buying Bitcoin, it shows how far we’ve come. While this doesn’t fundamentally change Bitcoin’s nature—it’s still being bought and sold across wallets—it brings greater stability to the market. We expect more institutions to enter the space, further stabilizing the market and making it easier for everyone to participate.
Why Robinhood Chose to Offer Staking—but Only for Solana, Not Ethereum
In Europe, we’re still in the early stages, launching new features almost every week. Solana staking was a feature requested by our customers, so we implemented it. Our roadmap includes more than just staking, so stay tuned for updates. Participation in staking has been extremely high—beyond our expectations—and we’ll continue building based on this interest.
Demand for Native Crypto Features on the Robinhood Platform
While we don’t have exact percentage data, we’ve seen our crypto features downloaded thousands of times. A segment of our customer base uses advanced crypto features like crypto transfers. Although the proportion of users adopting these features isn’t high, they value having the option. Similarly, not everyone will use a wallet—many aren’t willing to manage private keys or dive deeply into this space. Yet, demand to access Web3 is strong, which is exactly why we’re building these features. Recently, we launched Cross Chain Swap and saw high engagement. We were the first major wallet to introduce gasless swaps, addressing pain points like needing to pay gas fees when exchanging assets. We focus on understanding customer needs and solving their problems—that’s what drives our product launches.
Robinhood’s Partnership with Arbitrum and Whether the Company Will Build Its Own Layer 2
We considered many factors, one of which was Arbitrum’s impressive growth as one of the fastest-growing Layer 2 solutions. Arbitrum’s total value locked (TVL) is quite high, and their innovation is notable. For us, it was a convergence of customer demand and partnership opportunity. The product we recently launched on Arbitrum has seen massive usage and engagement, which is very satisfying—it shows we’re building products customers care about.
Johann’s View on the Meme Coin Craze and Whether Robinhood Will List These Tokens
From my perspective, my main focus is ensuring our platform is prepared for such volatility. We’ve seen this before, and I believe Robinhood today is a completely different company compared to earlier days—like during the peak of Dogecoin mania in 2021. We’ve invested heavily in stability and scalability. When market events like this occur, with sudden surges in user activity and record order volumes for specific assets, we want to ensure we remain operational and can serve our customers effectively. That’s my primary concern. I do think these market events have now become part of doing business. We know they’ll happen, and we prepare for them. For example, during March’s period of significantly increased crypto activity, we served customers without major issues. Ultimately, the market will decide which products it wants. My main priority is ensuring we’re ready for these events—even if I don’t fully understand why certain assets become more popular than others.
Johann’s Perspective on the Political Battle Around Crypto in the U.S.
To me, the real importance is that we’re no longer ignoring this issue. For a long time, regulators discussed crypto without making real progress. Now, crypto has become a political topic—that’s a positive development because it can no longer be ignored. Voters need to know what the next president will do on crypto. But beyond election-season discussions, we need actual legislation to provide the industry with a clear regulatory framework. That will give us a defined path forward and help ensure the industry’s growth and stability.
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