Robinhood, more commonly known as the commission-free stock trading app, has been making waves in the cryptocurrency scene lately. Various reports have surfaced stating that the company appears to be getting serious in its cryptocurrency business, putting it on a collision course with Coinbase, the current number one crypto exchange and broker in the US.

Based on its recent job advertisement, Robinhood is currently hiring developers capable of “providing wallet functionality”. If Robinhood completed a wallet project, insiders believe that it will become an even stronger competitor to the current market leader, Coinbase, and could even challenge its market dominance.

With its own crypto wallet in place, it will be easier for customers to transfer their cryptocurrency holding from other brokerages or wallets into Robinhood. At the moment, transferring their digital holdings into Robinhood is a three-step process. First, they will have to sell these cryptocurrencies stored in other exchanges or wallets and then transfer the proceeds to Robinhood’s platform before buying the cryptocurrency of their choice.

Obviously, investors will think twice before making such a move as it would entail additional commission costs. In addition, there is always that possibility that they may incur some losses during the transfer due to the volatility of the market. Prices could change greatly in a matter of seconds.

Putting up its own crypto wallet would be the company’s response to the demands of its clients. Investors have been clamoring for this facility, according to a Robinhood spokesman, who revealed that “people are constantly asking for the ability to transfer their coins into Robinhood.”

Coinbase investors will certainly have a very compelling reason to transfer their cryptocurrency holdings to Robinhood. While Coinbase currently charges a 2-percent transaction fee for buying and selling cryptos, Robinhood does not charge customers for Bitcoin and Ethereum trades.

In an interview with Fortune magazine, Robinhood co-CEO Vlad Tenev believes that people are paying too much in fees for financial services, which include cryptocurrency trading. Tenev wants to address this overcharging by using technology and automation to enable the company to offer its trading facilities for free:

“The cost has gone to essentially zero. So our approach is use technology and automation to put the vast majority of the value of that transaction back into customers’ pockets.”

However, Tenev admits that the company won’t be making big money by offering free cryptocurrency trading. According to the CEO, Robinhood mainly aims “to operate it as a breakeven business.”

Robinhood Delves Deeper Into Crypto Trading, Could Challenge Coinbase’s Dominance was originally found on [blokt] - Blockchain, Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

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