Digital asset manager Grayscale has made its flagship Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) products available on Robinhood, the popular trading app open to millions of retail users.
Beginning on Friday, Robinhood users will be able to trade Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and Ethereum Trust (ETHE) directly through the app. Shares of GBTC provide investors with direct exposure to Bitcoin in the form of a security without having to buy or store the digital asset directly. ETHE, meanwhile, operates as an open-end investment company whose shares reflect the value of Ether held by the trust.
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Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust is the largest investment vehicle dedicated to the leading crypto asset. As of May 2, the trust had $24.6 billion in assets under management. Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust, meanwhile, had over $329 million in assets.
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Robinhood operates a discount brokerage that provides retail investors with low-barrier entry to financial markets, including crypto. In the first quarter, the firm’s revenue declined by 43% year-over-year as sales from cryptocurrency trading dropped by 39%. Despite the decline, Robinhood’s net cumulative funded accounts increased 27% year-over-year. Currently, Robinhood lists over 20 cryptocurrencies for trading on its platform.
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Retail traders’ embrace of crypto peaked in the first half of 2021, a period that coincided with multiple record highs for Bitcoin and the broader market. However, retail interest has declined significantly since then, as evidenced by Google search trends and a lack of new capital entering the market.