Why Robinhood Crypto IS NOT the end of Coinbase

What is Robinhood?
Robinhood is a trading brokerage that offers commission free trading of stocks, ETFs, options, and soon (Feb/2018) cryptocurrencies.

On January 25th 2018, Robinhood announced that it would begin trading cryptocurrencies in February.

The Robinhood app saves a lot of people, a lot money. Robinhood getting into crypto will bring more investors into the market. However, there is 2 things worth noting in the FAQs.

https://support.robinhood.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000088663-Crypto-Banking

Robinhood will not allow for deposits of cryptocurrency. If you earn crypto through SteemIt, mining, or any other method, you still need to use Coinbase, Kraken, or another exchange to transfer crypto to fiat, then deposit fiat into Robinhood, then purchase a cryptocurrency.

Example: Sell Steem for Ethereum (Robinhood Wallet)

Step 1. Sell Steem for Bitcoin.

Step 2. Sell Bitcoin through CoinBase.

Step 3. Transfer dollars to bank account (average 2-3 business day wait)

Step 4. Transfer dollars to Robinhood account (again, wait up to 3 business days)

Step 5. Buy Ethereum.

Depending on weekends/holidays this process it not as easy and streamlined as promoted by affiliates and can take a week or more. When prices move 5-10% a day, a week is forever.

If Robinhood can fix these issues, Coinbase and others might have something to worry about.

Robinhood is a great app for trading stocks. I chose not to spam Robinhood affilate links in this article but as a full disclaimer...I use and recommend Robinhood.