Crypto-Friendly Robinhood Wished To Provide Bank Accounts
Stock trading app Robinhood, which quite recently started to provide cryptocurrency trading to several of its US customers, wishes to provide its customers saving accounts in addition to other traditional banking services.
According to Bloomberg, the $5.6 billion company, based out of Menlo Park, CA, has started reaching out to regulators at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) about getting the license need to acquire a national banking charter.
Over 4 million people have registered for Robinhood’s commission-free stock trading platform, and users in 16 states stand the chance to trade bitcoin and ethereum in addition to their equity investments.
By registering as a bank, Robinhood could provide additional services to customers as it plans to become a one-stop financial platform.
Currently, Robinhood is registered with FINRA as a broker-dealer and is controlled by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Robinhood is one of the few companies’ dealing in the cryptocurrency space that is claimed to have inquired regarding registering as a national bank. Such charters anticipate state-level financial regulations, which force US startups to take part in a patchwork of 50 various regulatory regimes.
Circle, presently valued about over $3 billion after its recent funding round has announced that it plans to buy acquire a banking license soon as part of its commitment to robust regulatory compliance.
It is claimed that the San Francisco—based Coinbase held the same discussions with regulators, even though the firm has not given any public report.
“Most fintechs come to us because they have heard of this thing called a national banking charter that gives them pre-emption across state lines,” Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting reportedly said at an industry conference earlier this year. “When they come and they speak to us, and they understand what it really takes to be a bank, they kind of glaze over and often leave skid marks leaving the building.”
