Robinhood offers simple, no-fee crypto trading for beginners but lacks staking, crypto-to-crypto swaps, and advanced tools. Best for casual investors who want to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum alongside stocks.
Robinhood Crypto: What You Need to Know About Trading Crypto on Robinhood
When you buy Robinhood crypto, a simplified way to trade cryptocurrencies through a mobile app originally built for stocks. Also known as Robinhood Markets crypto, it lets you buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a few other coins without paying trading fees—but you don’t own the actual coins outside the app. That’s not a typo. Robinhood doesn’t let you withdraw your crypto to a wallet. You’re trading a promise of ownership, not the asset itself.
This matters because crypto trading on Robinhood, a service designed for casual investors who want simplicity over control. Also known as Robinhood crypto platform, it’s built for people who want to buy Bitcoin like they buy Apple stock—with one tap, no keys, no addresses, no risk of losing a private key. But that convenience comes with trade-offs. If Robinhood goes down, gets hacked, or decides to delist a coin, you can’t move your holdings. Compare that to a real crypto exchange, a platform where users hold and transfer digital assets directly. Also known as decentralized exchange, it gives you full control over your private keys and lets you send crypto anywhere. Robinhood isn’t one of those.
Most users don’t realize Robinhood crypto doesn’t support staking, lending, or DeFi. You can’t earn interest on your ETH. You can’t swap tokens for other chains. You can’t use your Bitcoin as collateral. The app only lets you buy and sell. And while the zero-fee model sounds great, Robinhood makes money by selling your order flow to high-frequency traders—just like it does with stocks. That’s not fraud, but it’s not transparency either.
Some people use Robinhood as a gateway. They buy their first Bitcoin there, learn the basics, then move to a real exchange. Others treat it like a savings account—putting in $50 a month and forgetting about it. Both work, but only if you understand the limits. If you’re serious about crypto, you’ll eventually need a wallet. If you’re just curious, Robinhood crypto is easy to start with.
Below, you’ll find real reviews, comparisons, and warnings about platforms like COINBIG, CrossTower, and Exchangeist—each offering something Robinhood doesn’t. You’ll see why some traders left Robinhood for full control. You’ll learn how to spot fake airdrops pretending to be linked to Robinhood. And you’ll find out which exchanges actually let you own your crypto, not just track its price.