Robinhood is executing a significant strategic shift in its cryptocurrency business, moving away from its beginner-friendly roots to court advanced retail and institutional traders. The company is rolling out a suite of professional-grade tools and has made a key executive hire to spearhead this new direction, directly challenging incumbents like Coinbase.
At the core of the retail-facing pivot is the introduction of advanced features such as tax-lot selection and custom cost-basis controls for crypto transfers, allowing users to manage tax exposure with greater precision. The platform has also expanded liquidity access, routing crypto orders across seven different venues to improve execution quality and narrow spreads. For high-volume traders, effective fees can be as low as three basis points.
Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood’s head of crypto, noted a clear evolution in user behavior, with a growing share of customers engaging in day trading and active portfolio management. This shift has prompted the company to prioritize product depth and execution quality over simply chasing headline trading volumes.
On the institutional front, Robinhood has appointed Zeke Vince as its global head of business development for institutional crypto. Vince joins from crypto liquidity provider B2C2 and brings over two decades of experience in electronic foreign exchange and institutional market structure from previous roles at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan, and Credit Suisse. This hire signals a focus on execution, integration, and institutional workflows.
This strategic realignment follows a period of regulatory challenges, including a $30 million penalty from the New York Department of Financial Services in 2022 and a closed SEC Wells Notice inquiry in 2025. To bolster its market infrastructure, Robinhood, alongside Susquehanna International Group, acquired a 90% stake in derivatives exchange MIAXdx in November 2025. The company is also an investor in Bruce Markets, an alternative trading system backed by Fidelity Investments and Nasdaq Ventures.
Looking ahead, Robinhood plans to introduce crypto staking in the U.S., expand smart order routing with tiered fees, and integrate its AI-powered investing assistant, Cortex, into crypto workflows.
