The trading platform Robinhood, known in the United States for commission-free trading of various instruments, has made the list of the top five holders of the cryptocurrency Ethereum (ETH). As reported by the analytical platform Arkham Intelligence, Robinhood controls over 1.72 million ETH, currently valued at nearly $3 billion.
It is uncertain whether Robinhood directly owns these coins or holds them on behalf of its clients. The trading platform has not yet released an official statement regarding the status of its coins, including Bitcoin and Shiba Inu (SHIB), which constitute a significant share of their portfolio.
However, based on data from the network, we know that Robinhood’s wallet holds billions of dollars in cryptocurrencies. For instance, Robinhood controls crypto assets valued at over $6.6 billion. Of this pool, more than half is Bitcoin valued at $3.3 billion and Ethereum valued at $2.93 billion. Their collection also includes other cryptocurrencies such as SHIB valued at $227 million, Chainlink (LINK) worth $30 million, and Avalanche (AVAX) valued at $29 million.
Interestingly, there’s very little USDT (Tether) in Robinhood’s wallet – just $1,720. In comparison, they control over $5.1 million of USDT’s main competitor, USDC. USDT is considered the first and most liquid stablecoin in the world, yet Robinhood seems to favor USDC.
In the context of global Ethereum holdings, Robinhood lags behind other platforms like Kraken and Binance. Among centralized exchanges, Binance is the largest holder of ETH, with a significant portion belonging to its clients. Binance controls multiple offline wallets that hold billions of coins collectively. These wallets, not connected to the internet, are considered more secure.
Apart from exchanges, the single largest wallet controlling ETH is the official deposit contract on Beacon Chain, holding 6% of all coins in circulation. Many validators, responsible for approving transactions on the Ethereum network based on proof of stake, have locked over 29.1 million ETH valued at over $49 billion.
Robinhood, though being a major player in the US crypto market, still seems somewhat mysterious regarding its cryptocurrency holdings. As the market evolves and many platforms become more transparent, one can hope that Robinhood will also share more details about its involvement in the crypto world.
