Robinhood announced Wednesday that its self-custodial crypto wallet app is now available for all users on iOS. The wallet debuted last September in beta with 10,000 users and no network charges for swapping Polygon’s MATIC tokens. In January, the company rolled it out to more than 1 million users on the waitlist.

While the app first launched exclusively with Polygon, the company has now included the Ethereum blockchain in the fold along with support for more than 50 ERC tokens like COMP, MATIC, SHIB, SOL, UNI, USDC and more.

“Users told us they want access to more coins on more chains, which is why we’ve quickly added support for Ethereum. While we recognize it’s been a tumultuous few months in the crypto space, we remain committed to our mission to make Robinhood the most trusted, lowest cost, and the easiest-to-use on-ramp to crypto,” Johann Kerbrat, GM of Robinhood Crypto, said in a blog post.

The Robinhood Wallet also lets users hold their Polygon and Ethereum-based NFTs. Plus, they can access dApps like Uniswap, Balancer and Kyberswap. The company noted that it will still not charge any network fees on Polygon.

The fintech company said that for security, users will have to set up a Face ID/Touch ID unlock or a custom PIN to access the app every time. Plus, just like other self-custodial wallets like MetaMask, users will have to generate and store a recovery phrase.

Robinhood said that the app is available across 130 countries on the Apple App Store, and it is working on launching the Android version later this year.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) subpoenaed the company over its cryptocurrency dealings. Meanwhile, robo-advisor company Wealthfront launched has launched a rival stock trading solution that lets users invest as little as $1.

Robinhood’s wallet app is now available to all iOS users by Ivan Mehta originally published on TechCrunch

U.K.-based stock-trading startup Lightyear is finally expanding to the web, nearly two years after the company first emerged out of stealth.

Founded out of London in 2020, Lightyear is one of a number of fintechs that promise an easy conduit for the general public to invest their money in some of the world’s biggest companies. But while mobile may be the preeminent internet device for most people these days, people still like the option to peruse their investments on a larger-screened device such as a laptop — and that is what Lightyear is now offering.

The company said that a web-based interface has been its “most highly requested feature” since its launch in 2021, and today sees it follow in the footsteps of others in the space such as European rival Freetrade, which landed on the web exactly a year ago, though that remains in beta and available to premium subscribers only for now. Another European neobroker called Bux is also working on a web app, though there is no indication when that might launch. Across the water in the U.S., Robinhood brought its web version to market in 2017, four years after launch.

In short, Lightyear really has to match its rivals at the very least, and big-screen access could be a deciding factor for would-be customers.

“Many investors prefer to manage their portfolios on the big screen — myself included,” Lightyear co-founder and CEO Martin Sokk said in a statement. “We knew a web app would be a part of Lightyear’s journey in the long term, but by speaking to customers we quickly realised it wasn’t something we should kick down the road.”

Lightyear arrives on the web. Image Credits: Lightyear

Lightyear has secured some $35 million in funding from a slew of high-profile institutional and angel investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Wise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus. While the trading platform was initially limited to the U.K. market, Lightyear expanded into mainland Europe last summer.

The new web app will support most of the core platform’s features, allowing users to manage their portfolios and make trades, and track their portfolio performance. There are some differences though, for example the main portfolio screen has a chart-drag view that enables users to view their stocks’ performance over a custom time frame.

While the company plans other web-only features in the long run, the initial release of the web app will be missing some key features from the mobile app that will be added in time, such as the personalized “events” calendar for owned stocks, analyst price targets and fund highlights.

European stock-trading app Lightyear arrives on the web by Paul Sawers originally published on TechCrunch

As the crypto market works its way through a downturn, more incoming money and users could help it weather the storm.

But right now, it’s sometimes challenging for the layperson to get into crypto. Understanding gas fees and wallets isn’t intuitive, and the perceived miasma of complication that currently surrounds the space is no help, either. To help foster user adoption and the resulting capital inflow, web3 needs smoother on- and off-ramps to make it easier to buy into and interact with blockchains.

Trusted providers with existing mainstream audiences are betting they can help fill that gap.

In recent weeks, a number of brand-name mainstream financial institutions have been rolling out new crypto products and services in an attempt to make the space more accessible. At the end of April, Mastercard, PayPal and Robinhood all independently talked about the measures they’re taking to do so at Consensus 2023 and how they are furthering their moves into the crypto ecosystem.

“Despite the market, we continue to be at the cusp of mainstream adoption,” Jose Fernandez da Ponte, SVP and GM of blockchain, crypto and digital currencies at PayPal, told TechCrunch+. “We got into this technology because we believe it contributes to the idea of a faster, more inclusive financial services environment,” Ponte said.

The crypto ecosystem is in a “transitionary period,” according to Raj Dhamodharan, EVP of blockchain and digital currencies at Mastercard. The industry is figuring out the technology and what else can be extracted from it, and “a lot of energy is going to figuring out the next use cases,” he said.

People new to crypto are likely to be more willing to use a platform that they already know and trust to buy into web3 products and services. Household financial names opening their doors to the ecosystem could prove to be the catalyst that pushes crypto from a niche to something more.

On April 28, Mastercard launched “Crypto Credential,” a set of standards and infrastructure that aims to help certify interactions between consumers and businesses using blockchain networks.

“We’re excited about the underlying technology and the promise the technology offers,” Dhamodharan said. “We think public blockchains can be a utility to store and move value over time … and you have to show that you can do it in a regulatory compliant way.”

Mastercard, PayPal and Robinhood dive deeper into crypto as industry shows ‘promise’ by Jacquelyn Melinek originally published on TechCrunch

Robinhood announced on Thursday that it was acquiring X1, a no-fee credit card startup, for $95 million in cash.

X1, which offers an income-based credit card with rewards, raised a total of $62 million in venture-backed funding from investors like Soma Capital, FPV, Craft Ventures and Spark Capital since its 2020 inception. The company announced its most recent raise of $15 million in December, when it also touted a 50% boost in its valuation.

On the one hand, while X1’s valuation is not known, it looks like Robinhood is getting a good deal with $95 million. If you take a look at recent raises by other credit card companies, you might say that X1 raising $62 million should yield a high valuation in the hundreds of millions. So, the purchase price may reflect the dip in fintech valuations we’ve seen in the past six months. 

For example, Petal raised $140 million in 2022 at an $800 million valuation. Granted, Petal has been around longer and raised more. A better example might be Yonder, a U.K.-based credit card startup that raised $15.4 million in April at an $89 million post-money valuation, converted in today’s U.S. dollar from the pound. 

On the other hand, Robinhood noted in its announcement that this move is “an important step in our journey toward broadening our product offerings and deepening our relationship with existing customers.” Not only has crypto trading slowed down, but its core trading business overall saw declines in May, most likely prompting that desire to diversify its business. 

Indeed, the acquisition of X1 gets Robinhood into the credit card business with the interchange fee revenue that comes with it. Robinhood currently earns interchange fees from its debit card. The startup first made headlines for its unique model, which allows it to underwrite customers based on their income rather than their credit scores. (Since then, other players have emerged with similar models — such as Tomo Credit, which offers credit based on cash flow rather than credit). X1 doesn’t charge an annual fee for its stainless steel Visa card, has no late or foreign transaction fees and rewards users with “points.” The company also claims that its card is “smart” in that it has built software features that work with the credit card.

X1 co-founders Deepak Rao and Siddharth Batra will oversee the new business for Robinhood, and Rao will serve as general manager of credit cards. 

Robinhood said it expects the deal to close in the third quarter of this year.

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Robinhood acquires credit card startup X1 for $95M by Christine Hall originally published on TechCrunch

Welcome back to The Interchange! If you want this in your inbox, sign up here. We’re back after a brief hiatus, with lots of fintech news, including Robinhood’s latest acquisition, Plaid’s newest product and a ChatGPT-powered AI tool that aims to help you save money on bills.

Robinhood’s motives

When Robinhood announced on June 22 that it was acquiring credit card startup X1 for $95 million, it caused all sorts of chatter in the fintech world.

Why would Robinhood want to buy a credit card startup? Did it get a good deal, considering that X1 has raised only $62 million over its lifetime? Did its investors get a good deal or just a return on their investment? Why X1 in particular over the many other credit card startups out there?

Let’s talk about that last point first.

When we talked to X1 in December at the time of its last fundraise, founder and CEO Deepak Rao told us the company was launching a new trading platform that would give its cardholders the ability to buy stocks by using earned reward points. He even singled out Robinhood as a company he was hoping to compete with, telling TechCrunch: “By using credit card points to buy stock instead of cash or their savings, we feel this is a safe way for many consumers to start investing. There is no real downside as their investing is technically free.”

Aha.

Could that be what drew Robinhood to X1??

On this week’s Equity podcast, we chatted about that possibility, with co-host Alex Wilhelm noting that one would have to earn a lot of rewards before being able to buy many stocks. He also pointed out that Robinhood perhaps had some money to burn, as well as the company declaring that it was looking for something new as a way of “broadening [its] product offerings” and “deepening” its relationship with existing customers.

If you’ve been following Robinhood’s performance over the past year, a desire to diversify its business is probably not a surprise. We noted that not only has Robinhood’s crypto trading slowed, but also the company has seen significant user attrition. So an X1 acquisition gets Robinhood into the credit card space and an additional revenue stream.

Still, one observer noted that while X1’s basic premise of offering credit based on income rather than credit score was innovative, since it first formed in 2020 it has not really since delivered anything — other than the new stock feature — that stands out in the market.

Fintech analyst Alex Johnson shared a similar sentiment, tweeting: “The brand alignment is strong. Both companies have a certain unearned machismo about them. Other than that though, I don’t get this for Robinhood. X1 doesn’t have a lot of customers (did it ever even fully launch?) and none of its features are revolutionary.”

It is true that X1 may not have had a lot of customers, especially in comparison to a giant like Robinhood, but the company claimed to be on a growth trajectory, with Rao telling us last December that the company saw $3 million a month in revenue last October, giving it an annual revenue rate of $36 million.

Not everyone is down on the deal, though. Better Tomorrow Ventures’ Sheel Mohnot tweeted that while X1 may not have a lot of customers, Robinhood does. He added: “[T]his seems like a good acquisition to me, cheaper to cross-sell than to sell to new customers.”

— Mary Ann and Christine

Image Credits: X1

Weekly News

Fintech startup Plaid got its start as a company that connects consumer bank accounts to financial applications but has since been gradually expanding its offerings to offer more of a full-stack onboarding experience. And on June 22, Plaid announced even more new product releases that moved the company into a whole new direction while also helping to diversify its revenue streams. At the top of that lies Beacon, which it is describing as a “collaborative anti-fraud network enabling financial institutions and fintech companies to share critical fraud intelligence via API across Plaid.” More here.

Navan (formerly TripActions) offers both a corporate card and a subscription to its software. In a twist, the company announced on June 12 the launch of a new product called Navan Connect, which it describes as a patented card-link technology that gives businesses a way to offer automated expense management and reconciliation without having to change their corporate card provider. For the initial launch, Navan has partnered with Mastercard and Visa, with plans to announce additional network tie-ups in the near future. More here.

Spend management startup Brex was named to Time’s 100 Most Influential Companies list. As it made the recognition, Time wrote: “Co-CEO Henrique Dubugras says think of Brex as a ‘spend platform.’ The company launched its corporate charge card for startups five years ago, and has since grown into a fintech conqueror. Valued at $12.3 billion in 2022, it has made 10 acquisitions, and after Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, it received $2 billion in deposits and opened 4,000 new accounts. Last year Brex launched Empower, software that links Brex cards and accounts to a custom expense-­management service. The company services startups, helping new businesses get off the ground, as well as enterprise clients, including DoorDash, Indeed, Coinbase, SeatGeek, and Lemonade.” Ramp, another spend management startup, also made the list, with Time writing: “Notching an $8.1 billion valuation just three years after being founded is striking, even for a tech startup. While many fin­tech companies struggled last year, Ramp’s meteoric rise accelerated. The business-expense-software firm saw revenues quadruple as its customers looked to stay lean through inflation. Ramp’s Visa cards are tied to employer-­set policies, so employees instantly know if charges are approved; reports and receipts aren’t always needed. Employers get alerts about duplicate expenses and items they may be overpaying for. ”

Brubank, an Argentina-based digital bank founded by former Citibank executive Juan Bruchou, shared with TechCrunch that since launching in 2019, it has brought in nearly 3 million clients, making Brubank “the largest Spanish-speaking digital bank in Latin America, with a 50% activity rate,” according to the company. It also has been sustaining bottom line profitability for the past 12 months.

At least two companies are poised for a credit card launch this summer: Snowfoll, one of three startups that pitched at TC Early Stage Boston in April, will launch a credit card in July that is tailored to users in the U.S. and India so they can more easily transmit cash cross-border. The company said users in the U.S. are eligible for limits as high as $30,000, and the card reduces the need for having separate bank accounts in the U.S. and India. In addition, the process is instant and cost-free. Meanwhile, Step, the financial platform tailored to teens, their families and young adults, opened up a waitlist for its latest card, Step Black Card. Cardholders will be eligible for perks, including earning 5% on savings balances up to $1 million and up to 8x the points on purchases. Read TechCrunch coverage on Step here and here.

Other headlines

This ChatGPT-powered AI tool can help you haggle to save money on bills

PayEm integrates spend management and procurement platform with American Express

Stripe launches payments for bookings in Google Calendar

Transactions: Citizens selects embedded payments provider Wisetack

Amsterdam’s fintech unicorn Adyen partners with Shopify to strengthen its commerce capabilities

Visa launches fintech accelerator in Africa

TTV Capital continues buildout with hiring of ex-Global Payments CFO

Funding and M&A

Seen on TechCrunch

Volt, an open banking fintech for payments and more, raises $60M at a $350M+ valuation

Heard Technologies grabs another $15M to develop therapist accounting tools

Nasdaq to acquire financial services software company Adenza from Thoma Bravo for $10.5B

With Equifax in its sights, TransUnion invests $24M in income verification platform Truework

Finfra lets Indonesian businesses add embedded finance to their platform

And elsewhere

Dallas-based Yendo raises $24M in Series A funding

Fintech firm Rho in talks to buy startup formerly known as Party Round

Car-insurance firm Root gets takeover bid (Interestingly, the company’s stock got a big boost when the news came out, spiking from an opening price of $5.92 per share to close at $12.62 that day.)

Neo-lender Gulp Data secures $25m, bringing data-backed loans to startups 

Alternativ raises $10 million as digitally native RIAs pick up steam

Fortis expands to Canada, adds fee collection feature, acquires SmartPay

Join us at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 in San Francisco this September as we explore the impact of fintech on our world today. New this year, we will have a whole day dedicated to all things fintech, featuring some of today’s leading fintech figures. Save up to $600 when you buy your pass now through August 11, and save 15% on top of that with promo code INTERCHANGE. Learn more.

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin

Did this one feature entice Robinhood to acquire X1? by Christine Hall originally published on TechCrunch

Ten years ago, Robinhood was founded to “democratize” stock trading, or more simply, to make it more accessible for anyone to trade stocks. Over time, the now publicly traded company has broadened its offerings – allowing users to do far more than just buy shares of stocks. Today, its goal is simple: To democratize finance […]

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We knew it was coming, but stock-trading platform Robinhood is finally open for business in the U.K. — its first international market since debuting in the U.S. more than a decade ago. Robinhood is granting early access to the app starting today for those who join the waitlist, with things gradually opening up to everyone […]

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Robinhood’s long-awaited international expansion is at full throttle. The consumer trading and investment app tailored to the younger generations is launching its crypto app to all eligible users in the European Union, the company said Thursday. The announcement comes on the heels of its foray into the U.K. just a week ago. While it’s taking […]

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As 2023 comes to a close, we’re here to look back at the biggest fintech stories of the year. Silicon Valley Bank’s implosion felt like a fintech story in that a number of startups (Brex, Arc and Mercury, for example) in the space leapt to fill the hole left by its collapse. But it truly […]

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Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! This week, we’re looking at a new finance-based dating app, Robinhood’s earnings results and the startup in which PayPal Ventures made its first AI investment. Let’s dive in! To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Sunday at 7:30 […]

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Eight months after acquiring credit card startup X1 for $95 million, Robinhood announced today the launch of its new Gold Card, with a list of features that could even give Apple Card users envy. Robinhood, better known for its brokerage app aimed at the everyday investor, is touting all sorts of benefits with its new […]

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Robinhood’s new credit card was revealed Tuesday, and though it’s only available for Robinhood Gold members, the Gold Card does have a feature that’s spurring headlines: the ability to invest cash-back bonuses into investments. The announcement comes eight months after the acquisition of the startup X1 for $95 million, and it just so happens one […]

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Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! This week, we’re looking at Robinhood’s new Gold Card, challenges in the BaaS space and how a tiny startup caught Stripe’s eye. To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Sunday at 7:30 a.m. PT, subscribe here.  The big […]

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When IVP recently announced the closing of its 18th fund, I called Eric Liaw, a longtime general partner with the growth-stage firm, to ask a few questions. For starters, wringing $1.6 billion in capital commitments from its investors right now would seem a lot more challenging than garnering commitments during the frothier days of 2021, […]

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Stock-trading app Robinhood is diving deeper into the cryptocurrency realm with the acquisition of crypto exchange Bitstamp.

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Hello, and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. Mary Ann and Alex are back, and once again they tapped the TechCrunch roster for expert input. This week, we’re lucky enough to have Kirsten Korosec back on the podcast. She’s TechCrunch’s mobility lead, hosts […]

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The platform might not be as highly technical as one that’s crypto-focused, but Robinhood is doing research to understand what customers want and are missing.

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As always, there was a lot happening in startup land this week, and the Equity team had so much fun breaking it down for you. On today’s episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Mary Ann and Rebecca discussed Robinhood’s plans to buy European crypto exchange Bitstamp for $200 million in cash and why they weren’t really […]

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Investment app Robinhood is adding more AI features for investors with its acquisition of AI-powered research platform Pluto Capital, Inc. Announced on Monday, the company says that Pluto will allow Robinhood to add tools for quicker identification of trends and investment opportunities, help guide users with their investment strategies, and offer real-time portfolio optimization. Pluto […]

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Small business creation has been on the rise in the U.S. since the pandemic. There are a lot of tech tools designed to help these companies with things like payroll or setting up retirement benefits — but more tools doesn’t mean small businesses know how to use them to make smart decisions. Uprise is looking to […]

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