Robinhood Crypto Revenue Triples Amid SEC Crackdown 

The popular millennial trading platform released its earnings report on May 8, beating analysts' estimates.

According to the first quarter resultsRobinhood reported record revenue of $618 million, up 40% year over year.

Additionally, revenue from cryptocurrencies rose 232% to $126 million.

“Transaction-based revenue increased 59% year-over-year to $329 million, primarily driven by cryptocurrencies,” the company stated.

Robinhood's cryptocurrency revenue tripled in the first quarter pic.twitter.com/Z6UtTWvz4C

– Jeff Roberts (@jeffjohnroberts) May 8, 2024

Robinhood's record revenue

Net income for the first quarter was $157 million, or 18 cents per share. This beat analysts' average estimate of 6 cents and compared with a loss of $511 million, or 57 cents, a year earlier.

The company also performed very well in gold-based products, with gold subscribers rising to a record high of 1.7 million in the first quarter.

“We continued to aggressively execute on our product roadmap in the first quarter, resulting in all-time highs for net gold deposits and subscribers,” said Vlad Tenev, CEO and co-founder of Robinhood.

Robinhood is the latest target in the SEC's cryptocurrency crackdown. On May 4, Wales received a notice from the regulator warning the company that it was likely to face enforcement action in relation to its cryptocurrency business.

The regulator made the same argument it has used with most enforcement actions, which is that most of the tokens traded on Robinhood are securities and subject to SEC rules and registration requirements.

Tenev called the SEC's action a “disappointing development,” while CFO Jason Warnick said, “So it's disappointing to see more regulation coming through here.”

“We have managed our cryptocurrency business very carefully. We have been very selective about the currencies we offer, and we have not provided the services that the SEC has criticized,” Warnick continued.

“Wales’ notice casts a pall over the future of this income stream,” said Lauren Ashcraft, a financial services analyst at eMarketer, according to Reuters.

Robinhood (HOOD) stock rose 5.2% in after-hours trading to $18.60. It's up 50% so far this year, according to MarketWatch.