Robinhood Web3 wallet enters beta, taps Polygon as first blockchain

Crypto and stock trading platform Robinhood announced the launch of Robinhood Wallet, a self-custody, Web3 wallet, with Polygon (MATIC) as its first supported blockchain.

Robinhood launched the beta version of its Web3 wallet on iOS. It is being made available to the first 10,000 users who joined the waitlist in May 2022. Hosted first over the Polygon blockchain, Robinhood Wallet allows users to trade and swap cryptocurrencies with no network fees.

Sharing his thoughts on the crypto wallet’s launch, Johann Kerbrat, chief technology officer of Robinhood Crypto, Robinhood’s crypto trading platform said:

“Like we did with the stock market, Robinhood Wallet strips away some of the complexities of web3 and DeFi to make crypto more accessible to everyone.”

For Robinhood, Polygon, as a blockchain network of choice, additionally offers scalability, speed, low network fees and a robust developer ecosystem. Robinhood’s symbiotic relationship with Polygon dates back to August 2022, when the platform added support for MATIC withdrawals and deposits on the Polygon proof-of-stake (PoS) chain.

However, Robinhood Wallet’s roadmap includes extending compatibility with other blockchains as well. The beta release will allow users to perform common tasks such as trading, rewards, storage and DApp-based yield farming of cryptocurrencies.

Future iterations of the wallet will include support for the nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace. Robinhood revealed that over 1 million users have signed up for the waitlist.

A report from June 2022 suggested that cryptocurrency derivatives exchange FTX is eyeing the acquisition of Robinhood.

Although the decision about an official takeover is not finalized, Bloomberg’s contact clarified that the discussion was purely internal and that the exchange has not yet approached Robinhood with a buyout proposal.

“We are excited about Robinhood’s business prospects and potential ways we could partner with them. [...] That being said, there are no active M&A conversations with Robinhood,” confirmed FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.